DeSantis Enters Presidential Race One Week After Attacking Trans Rights in Florida

Yesterday, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis announced via Twitter his official bid for the republican candidacy in the 2024 presidential election.  This happened just one week after he signed six anti-trans bills, according to the Trans Formations Project.

These bills, which go into effect in the sunshine state immediately, include one that LGBTQ advocates have dubbed the “Kidnapping Bill,” which would allow government agencies to remove custody from parents who are supportive of their trans child’s ambition to transition and bans any gender-affirming care for minors in the state. In addition, the bill would make the suggestion of “sex reassignment care or procedures” a criminal misdemeanor for nurse practitioners and physician assistants, making it exceedingly difficult for adults to access gender-affirming care.

Another bill signed into law which goes into effect immediately prohibits government agencies from issuing permits for events that mention sexuality, with criminal penalties for violations. While the carefully worded bill doesn’t mention drag or Pride celebrations by name, numerous Pride celebrations have been canceled in the state since the bill was signed into law. In a Facebook group, the organizers of St. Cloud Florida announced the decision to cancel their Pride event, stating the laws “have created a climate of fear and hostility,” while others, like Lake City Pride, promised to “not back down.”

Taking effect on June 1 is a bathroom bill unlike any other in the U.S. which criminalizes the use of bathrooms that do not match a person’s sex assigned at birth. This would apply to all public restrooms including, airports, sports arenas, schools, and government buildings. Bathroom bills like this make living or traveling to the state of Florida nearly impossible for trans and gender non-conforming people.

DeSantis announced his run for the Presidency via Twitter Spaces, an audio-only medium, which failed spectacularly within the first few minutes of trying to launch. The mere 400K listeners were enough to “melt the servers” according to moderator and PayPal CEO David Sacks. Not only do platforms like Twitch, YouTube, and Facebook currently have the capacity to stream to millions of viewers at a time, Governor DeSantis would have had an easier time announcing his run via an AM radio.

elon musk “broke the internet” meanwhile this shit broadcasts audio to hundreds of millions daily since 1895 pic.twitter.com/ruCA2pDhz2

— hasanabi (@hasanthehun) May 24, 2023

The initial announcement ran for exactly 21 minutes and featured long breaks in silence, doubled-up audio, and several instances of “hot mics” where Musk and Sacks spoke without realizing they could be heard. Recordings of the original announcement can be heard here. After the abject failure of the initial launch, DeSantis and Musk moved to David Sacks’ Twitter profile, where they were able to broadcast successfully.

During his announcement, Governor DeSantis promised voters that he would “fight the woke mob,” effectively promising to bring his anti-LGBTQ legislation nationwide should he be elected. Currently, Trump is favored by 58% of republican voters over DeSantis, and that margin is expected to rise after his rocky start in announcing his run for presidency.