Key West, Florida is known to be very LGBT-friendly. But it was this one law the city passed – which ironically has nothing to do with discriminating against LGBT people – that has one Florida state GOP lawmaker so angry he’s working to ban all local non-discrimination laws, and many others, in the state.
The Key West law bans the use of sunscreens that contain a specific chemical, oxybenzone, because it can kill precious coral reefs. The Great Florida Reef is the largest reef in the continental U.S.
Banning the sunscreen, according to Republican State Rep. Michael Grant, is a “regulatory scheme,” The Orlando Sentinel reports. Grant is working on passing a House Bill 3 that would ban all local governments in the state of Florida from passing laws that regulate any businesses, and would retroactively rescind all such laws across the state – including non-discrimination ordinances.
The Orlando Sentinel Editorial Board calls it “a ridiculously overbroad measure that undermines the foundation of local control over local affairs.”
LGBT advocates agree, noting it “would sunset every single human rights ordinance that now covers 60 percent of the state’s LGBTQ population,” according to former Florida lawmaker Joe Saunders, now a senior political director at Equality Florida.
Rep. Grant’s reasoning does not appear to be based on scientific fact.
“Somebody told me today you’d need a half-a-billion people to jump in the ocean, all slathered in sunscreen lotion, to have an impact on the reef,” Grant said, according to The Orlando Sentinel.
The Sentinel notes that “the Florida Department of Environmental Protection — advises divers to avoid using sunscreens containing oxybenzone because it’s ‘lethal to coral reproduction in very small amounts.'”
Calling Rep. Grant’s bill “noxious,” The Sentinel says it is “an attempt to once and for all shift power away from local governments and into the hands of a more powerful state apparatus.”
What could be affected?
“We’re talking about local laws that regulate puppy mills, solicitors, adult entertainment, employment discrimination — you name it,” the paper says. Also “jettisoned: Guidelines that govern what solicitors can and can’t do. Ordinances that prohibit employment discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity. Standards for massage parlors and adult entertainment.”
Rep. Grant, it should be noted, ran for and won his Florida House seat in 2016. He ran unopposed. No other Democrat or Republican even tried to win the seat. Grant received an “A+” score from the anti-LGBT group Florida Family Action.
Will House Bill 3 pass? Filed early last month, Rep. Grant officially introduced House Bill 3 today. And he happens to be the Majority Whip of House.
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