Tomorrow Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis is scheduled to speak to a group of Jewish conservatives in New York. And, per the usual arrangement, liberals continued to be triggered.
DeSantis’ visit to the Big Apple has been criticized by the owners of the facility hosting the speech, as well as LGBTQ activists.
Earlier this week, DeSantis’ spokeswoman Christina Pushaw highlighted comments by the owners of Chelsea Piers, the Manhattan venue where the governor will address the Tikvah Fund, hosts of the annual Jewish Leadership Conference.
DeSantis’ planned appearance has caused “enormous distress” among the staff of the facility, as well as the LGBTQ community and organizations friendly to it, which see Chelsea Piers as their “home,” their statement said.
The event is set for Pier Sixty, which, as the owners noted, has for 24 years hosted numerous events for groups of all political stripes. Never, they added, has Pier Sixty controlled the content, program or speakers.
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Yet, with DeSantis, they pointed out, “We could not disagree more strongly with many of Ron DeSantis’ actions in office.” And seeing a need to counter his “abhorrent behavior,” Pier Sixty will donate every dollar paid by the Tikvah Fund to groups that “protect LGBTQ+ communities and foster and amplify productive debates about LGBTQ+ issues.”
In response to that statement, conservative New York Post columnist Karol Markowicz tweeted, “This is idiotic and I’m embarrassed for you.”
But that wasn’t all the triggering caused by DeSantis.
The Associated Press reported on Saturday that LGBTQ activist planned to protest his appearance.
The AP quoted New York Democratic state Sen. Brad Hoylman, who called it “outrageous” that DeSantis would give a talk during Pride Month in an area not far from the birthplace of the gay rights movement in Manhattan.
Hoylman told the AP DeSantis is an “outspoken opponent of LGBTQ equality who is trying to foist his agenda on LGBTQ families, and it’s extremely hurtful and distressing.”
Apparently, according to the AP, liberal New Yorkers are upset with the governor’s anti-grooming efforts. The AP reported that LGBTQ groups are “still raw over legislation barring instruction about sexual orientation to grade-schoolers that DeSantis championed in his home state.”
That refers to the Parental Rights in Education law, which takes effect July 1. It prohibits public school districts and classroom teachers from implementing lesson plans centered on sexual orientation or gender identity in grades K-3.
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DeSantis’ campaign spokesman Dave Abrams told the AP that the governor “will always stand up for what is right and will not be deterred by the radical Left.”
This is not the first time DeSantis has riled up leftists over this event.
As The Free Press reported a month ago, the Museum of Jewish Heritage in New York, which was the original venue for the Tikvah Fund conference, canceled DeSantis’ speech after its liberal staffers complained.
In response to that, the Coalition for Jewish Values, which represents more than 2,000 orthodox rabbis, issued a statement condemning the museum.
Rabbi Moshe Parnes, the group’s southern regional chairman said, “As a Floridian and a rabbi, I can say that one would be hard-pressed to find an elected official more attentive to the Jewish community than Ron DeSantis.”
“He also believes that parents should be the primary decision makers in the education and upbringing of children, not government officials, and that is what has made him a target of cancel culture.”
“It is not merely true that Judaism also regards education as a parental obligation, but that the alternative is profoundly dangerous,” Parnes added. “In the long history of the Jewish people, we have sadly seen, time and time again, that government control of education is universally harmful to our children.”
The AP noted that DeSantis’ talk is entitled the “Florida Model and Why It’s Good for Religious Americans.”
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