The Scoop: Florida removes LGBTQ travel information from tourism website

Under Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis, Florida and the LGBTQ+ community have had a tumultuous relationship.

DeSantis championed the state’s so-called “Don’t Say Gay” law, which forbids the discussion of many LGBTQ+-related topics in public schools for third graders and younger. That controversial law set off a major skirmish with Disney that stretched on for years through acrimonious court battles.

Now, the discussion – or lack thereof – of queer-related topics is playing out more quietly.

The New York Times reports that Visit Florida, the state’s private-public tourism bureau, removed its web pages on LGBTQ+ travel sometime in the past few months.

Neither Visit Florida nor the governor’s office responded to “numerous” requests for comment on the removal, the Times reports. Visit Florida receives nearly $80 million in funding from the governor’s office.

“There’s a reason these pages existed in the first place: to roll out the welcome mat and say, ‘Hey, you know what? Your family is going to be safe and comfortable here,’” Nadine Smith, the executive director of Equality Florida, told the New York Times. “So if you take away that welcome mat, the only message that you can deliver is ‘We do not want you to feel safe and welcome you.’”

Queer travelers have long been welcome in many tourist hotspots in Florida, including Sarasota, Key West and other locales.

Some localities are rushing to reaffirm their commitment to gay travelers, even as the state apparently changes tactics.

“While Visit Florida removes its L.G.B.T.Q.+ page from its website, Visit Lauderdale values, respects and sees those from marginalized communities and commits to providing them a welcoming and inclusive experience,” said Stacy Ritter, chief executive and president of Visit Lauderdale, which represents the Greater Fort Lauderdale area.

Why it matters: In communications, it’s easy to focus on what to say. But what communicators don’t say, or what they used to say but no longer do, is incredibly impactful too.

LGBTQ+ tourists spend about $1 billion each year in the United States alone and represent as much as 10% of the travel market. And tourism is big business in Florida.

By removing these pages from their website, however quietly, Florida has created a self-inflicted wound. The number of people who would have read those pages on the tourism bureau website is small. But the number who have now read this article in the New York Times and elsewhere, browsed Reddit threads discussing the topic is high.

The communicators who work for the various tourism bureaus are between a political rock and a hard place. Those who speak out quickly and vocally about their continued commitment to this segment of the population may reap benefits – or at least stop the bleeding.

Those who don’t will send a message too.

Editor’s Top Reads:

• In related news, another company has changed its DE&I policies after pressure from conservative activist Robby Starbuck. Lowe’s will stop sponsoring various Pride activities, stop its participation in the Human Rights Campaign’s annual survey and restructure its employee resource groups, CNBC reports. Lowe’s joins the ranks of companies including Tractor Supply Company, John Deere and Harley Davidson in altering or abolishing various diversity policies after they earned the ire of Starbuck. Read more about how companies can approach this intense scrutiny before they’re in the spotlight.
• Kamala Harris will sit down for her first interview since she stepped to the top of the Democratic ballot. Together with running mate Tim Walz, she’ll speak with CNN’s Dana Bash Thursday night. Harris had faced criticism – much of it from her opponents to the right – about her lack of formal interviews and infrequent casual questioning with the press. Choosing when a principal should speak is a tricky part of media relations, especially when the circumstances are as high-profile and unusual as those surrounding Harris’ ascension. But now expectations and attention will be at an all-time high after a delay of more than a month. Will Harris be ready?
• “Come experience what has disappointed millions of people for over 225 years!,” trumpets a Facebook post from Mammoth Cave National Park. The tongue-in-cheek post arose after Mammoth Cave spokesperson Molly Schroer saw a local news article dubbing the cave one of the most disappointing attractions in the U.S. The post went on to mock complaints about darkness and lack of cell service in the cave. It garnered more than 100,000 likes, nearly 9,000 comments and 30,000 shares – not to mention a writeup in the Washington Post. Reclaiming your narrative from naysayers and poking fun at bad press can be a counterintuitive but rewarding strategy.

Allison Carter is editor-in-chief of PR Daily. Follow her on Twitter or LinkedIn.