UNF students and allies protest against anti-LGBTQ legislation
March 4, 2022
(Updated Tuesday, March 8, to include correct inclusion of protest organizer.)
With rainbow flags, large signs and passionate chants, University of North Florida LGBTQ students, faculty, staff and allies took to the Green Wednesday afternoon to protest against anti-LGBTQ legislation.
Camaguey Horne, a UNF sociology major senior and one of the protest’s main organizers, said they were protesting to protect against legislation that has been “plaguing the country for God knows how many years at this point.”
Speaking out against the controversial “Don’t Say Gay” bill, the protestors also shouted their disapproval for bills looking to ban, in their eyes, important books like Heather Has Two Mommies.
A UNF junior and communication major with a concentration in public relations, Allison Bradish told Spinnaker she helped organize the protest to “fight against really cruel legislation that is being written and passed in this state.”
“Really I’m here, not only to support the people who I know who are LGBTQ but to also kind of spread that message to other people that I don’t know,” she told Spinnaker. “And especially young children in this state who are about to see some really hard things in school with all these new bills.”
The protest — organized by Kyler Denk, a Psychology Senior and a member of the LGBTQ+ community, Horne and Bradish — took place just a day before many high school students across Florida participated in a walkout to express their opinions against the “Don’t Say Gay” bill.
A student just emailed these photos from Largo High School’s walk out in opposition to the #DontSayGay bill. These walk outs are happening across the State of FL! ? pic.twitter.com/vmwz3WeVh2
— Rep. Anna V. Eskamani ? (@AnnaForFlorida) March 3, 2022
The bill, officially titled “Parental Rights in Education,” is on its way to the Florida Senate after approval from the state House of Representatives.
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