Orlando attempts to reassure LGBTQ+ people it’s safe to visit: ‘Everyone is welcome’
Orlando’s official tourism association is running adverts encouraging LGBTQ+ people to visit, despite Florida having some of the most extreme anti-LGBTQ+ state laws in the US.
A 60-second audio clip from Visit Orlando was broadcasted on iHeartRadio channels, including PRIDE Radio, reassuring listeners that the city is “ready to welcome you just as you are”.
“The possibilities are endless. And there are amazing LGBTQ+ events for you to experience where everyone is welcome,” the ad continues.
NBC News journalist Ben Collins spotted the advertisements while listening to a podcast, and wrote in a Thursday (10 August) tweet that the city was “down so bad it’s unbelievable”.
Just heard a podcast ad from the city of Orlando and the whole thing was just reassuring gay people that their city is a safe place to go. They’re down so bad it’s unbelievable.
— Ben Collins (@oneunderscore__) August 10, 2023
A similar advert by the tourism association from June titled “Orlando is full of Pride” features a few of the city’s LGBTQ+ residents speaking about why it is a safe place for queer people.
One person who speaks in the video ad says: “The way our city is set up, there are so many pockets of multicultural groups.
“We have our LGBTQ+ community in our Lake Ivanhoe College Park locations, we have our strong Black heritage within various parts of the city. We have a very strong Latino, Brazilian heritage here as well.
“I think that allows Orlando to not only take and absorb all those cultures but create its own wonderful, beautiful combination of all of them.”
Florida has become a notoriously dangerous place for LGBTQ+ people following the rise of Republican governor and presidential hopeful Ron DeSantis’ so-called “war on woke”.
Since becoming governor in 2019, DeSantis has enacted the reviled ‘Don’t Say Gay‘ censorship law preventing the discussion of LGBTQ+ topics in schools, and signed a string of anti-LGBTQ+ bills into law, including legislation banning gender-affirming care for trans youth, restricting access to public toilets for trans people and restricting trans young people’s access to youth sports programmes.