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Governor DeSantis's policies targeting the LGBTQ community, restricting academic freedom, and banning diversity programs have negatively impacted Florida's economy. Several organizations have canceled conventions and events in Orlando due to concerns over DeSantis's "anti-woke" agenda, resulting in an estimated $20 million loss in revenue for the state. Despite this, DeSantis's spokesperson dismissed the economic impact as a "media-driven stunt." However, boycotts in the past have caused enough economic pain to lead to policy changes, so organizations avoiding Florida are doing the right thing by not spending money there while these policies remain in place.

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[-] Hype@lemm.ee 3 points 1 year ago

As a Floridian, please don't come. We make most of our money off of tourism, hospitality, and healthcare services. Go somewhere else, let this state die.

[-] Uniquitous@lemmy.one 2 points 1 year ago

DeSantis is poison for Florida. He's so busy trying to prove how much he hates gays & non-whites that he doesn't take any time to govern. But I guess that's the standard GOP playbook these days.

[-] Frog-Brawler@kbin.social 2 points 1 year ago

One cool thing for me (as a current FL resident) is that my cost of living has gone up so much that it’s motivated me to move to WA. I’ve been kinda lingering around Central FL for several years, not really sure where to go because everywhere else would be more expensive by comparison. Now I’ve finally found that motivation! Thanks Meatball! My homeowners insurance has gone from $900 a year to $4200, and I needed to buy a new roof to get that insurance to the tune of $10k. The old roof was only 12 years old. Insurance companies won’t cover a damn thing if your roof is > 10 years old in FL now.

If I’m going to spend all this money on living expenses I may as well do that somewhere better.

[-] timicin@kbin.social 2 points 1 year ago

If I’m going to spend all this money on living expenses I may as well do that somewhere better.

i did something similar between austin, texas and chicago, illinois. now my new place is 2x the size; w lots of amenities; costs less than texas; but most importantly, my new home isn't descending into a conservative fascist hell hole while everyone just sits around and watches it happen while simultaneously ignoring the clear reasons why and how to help it. lol

[-] Uniquitous@lemmy.one 1 points 1 year ago

Yeah, I've heard insurance is getting hard to come by in FL. Something that maybe a governor should go about trying to address, but he can't. No time, gotta get back out there and talk tough about slitting throats and repeating "woke" as many times per minute as possible.

[-] dhork@beehaw.org 1 points 1 year ago

The Governor even screams "woke" at the insurance companies, for raising rates, or leaving altogether. But insurance companies are about as far from woke as you get. They don't give a shit about the latent injustice in the system. They just look at their numbers, and tweak them until they maximize their revenue vs. risk. And all the bean counters have decided that Florida is too risky.

[-] Khotetsu@lib.lgbt 1 points 1 year ago

CoL may be higher, but wages are usually higher as well. That was a big thing at the height of everybody working remotely. People were working for companies in high CoL areas but moving to cheaper places for the pay raise it provided.

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[-] HulkSmashBurgers@reddthat.com 2 points 1 year ago
[-] altima_neo@lemmy.zip 1 points 1 year ago

Man I never wanna leave the west coast... Let alone go to Florida

[-] Four_lights77@lemm.ee 1 points 1 year ago
[-] Favor@beehaw.org 1 points 1 year ago

Oh they for sure care, just yesterday I was listening to a podcast and one of the ads was for Orlando. The theme of the ad? "Orlando is still great for gay people" They cited all kinds of statistics in an attempt to prove gay people should still visit and that it was a safe and fun place for them. They understand how critical those DINK tourists are, especially when you already have a lot of infrastructure and investment in attracting and serving them.

DeSantis doesn't care, but I promise you that lots of conservatives on the ground will start caring when their business traffic starts to choke off. Conservatives retire to Florida, but I'd imagine liberals make up at least half of the tourists between spring break, nightlife/LGBTQ hotspots, and how "woke" Disney has become.

Florida's current economic landscape is only possible due to tourism money, and once that reality becomes clear people are suddenly going to become far less concerned with non economic issues. Even the promise of tax cuts won't work when entire industries see their revenues drop by meaningful %'s.

I'm from Kansas, I know what it looks like and feels like to live in a conservative economic death spiral. The reality is you have to let it start getting worse before people take it seriously and put a stop to it. Even the conservatives here voted out Brownback after he started gutting every maintenance, service, and school budget in a failed attempt to balance his tax cuts. All those people who treat politics as a game get real serious once it hurts them directly, but until then I'm not sure there's an effective way to reach them.

[-] Khotetsu@lib.lgbt 1 points 1 year ago

And it's not just the tourism industry that's suffering, but construction and anything that requires freight shipping as well are already feeling the effects. There's been videos for the past several months of completely empty job sites with half finished houses and condos because DeSantis has made it a crime to drive undocumented workers, who make up almost the entirety of the construction workforce. A vast number of freight truck drivers also said that they won't deliver to Florida for similar reasons, though I don't remember exactly what law caused them to refuse to go into the state.

[-] Auzy@beehaw.org 1 points 1 year ago

As an Aussie, I'd never go there..I don't want to get shot and then someone claim they were standing their ground or whatever. As I have no problem with foreigners, lgbt people and I hate guns, why would I go?

As far as we know, it feels like I'd be stepping into kkk/nazi territory. I can go Europe instead where people are super chill

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[-] Puppy@kbin.social 1 points 1 year ago

DeSantis will forever be remembered as "that woke guy from Florida" lmao

He kinda attached himself to that word now. At least, that's the only thing I remember form his campaign; "WOKE WOKE WOKE WOKE WOKE WOKE WOKE WOKE WOKE WOKE WOKE"

[-] Jearom@beehaw.org 1 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

My family wants to do our first-ever Disney trip, but we’re boycotting Florida for the foreseeable future, and it’s 100% on their government. We look *at a trip to FL like vacationing in Berlin circa 1933 right now.

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[-] Cobrachickenwing@lemmy.ca 1 points 1 year ago

I'm sure Disney must be happy they let Ron win in 2022.

[-] PerogiBoi@lemmy.ca 1 points 1 year ago

I paid $350 to avoid stopping through Florida on my upcoming trip.

[-] Szymon@lemmy.ca 1 points 1 year ago

So regarding going broke, this was a result of.. checks clipboard going woke, right?

[-] AresUII@kbin.social 1 points 1 year ago

Texas Education Agency furiously scribbling "DESANTIS WOKE" into textbooks

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this post was submitted on 08 Aug 2023
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