Florida Republican Governor Ron DeSantis, traveling in New Hampshire on Friday, just days ahead of his expected presidential run announcement, made the traditional visit to a diner where he said hello to locals, sat down with reporters, and then claimed second-grade children are being “forced” to choose their “pronouns.”
The far-right Florida governor who has been “waging a culture war on his own constituents for the purpose of elevating himself,” as MSNBC’s Chris Hayes said Thursday, made certain he shared that platform with New Hampshire voters.
On Wednesday, the International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia and Transphobia (IDAHOBIT), as ABC News reported, DeSantis signed several bills into law attacking the LGBTQ community.
Among them, legislation that not only bans all gender-affirming care for anyone under 18, it allows the State of Florida to take custody of the minor from their own parents if they have received treatment.
READ MORE: ‘Obscene and Un-American’: Biden White House Blasts GOP Congressman’s Staffer Over Links to Neo-Nazi
Another bill DeSantis signed expands his highly-controversial “Don’t Say Gay” law from grades K-3, to all grades.
Yet another law bans transgender people from using restrooms that align or correspond with their gender identity.
And still another law bans minors from attending “adult live performances,” which critics say could include drag shows.
Already several Florida cities and towns, as a result of DeSantis’ laws targeting LGBTQ people, have cancelled their annual Pride celebrations.
None of this is how DeSantis explained what he is doing in the “Free State of Florida,” as he calls it, to the diners in New Hampshire who he is hoping will see his model as one for the entire country.
“We just did a bill in Florida,” DeSantis told possible supporters, “we’re not allowing the pronouns – like, you can’t force these kids to be choosing pronouns. They want like a second-grader to pick a pronoun. How crazy is that?”
In fact, for most of time, children have been told what their pronouns are. Recently, as more people have begun to understand what being transgender is, some families are doing the exact opposite of what DeSantis told New Hampshire voters: they’re saying to their kids you don’t have to.
Some families, respecting their children’s transgender identity, are saying you don’t have to pick a pronoun. Or, you can, if you want to, pick one that you feel is right for you.
As he walked away DeSantis said, “Keep fighting the good fight.”
Watch below or at this link.