Readers blast Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis for banning trans athletes on the first day of Pride month | First Words | Orlando

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis marked the very first day of Pride month by signing into law the horrific “Fairness in Women’s Sports Act” (groaning eternally) at a private Christian school (tearing out the last few intact tufts of our hair) in Jacksonville. The new law prohibits transgender student-athletes from competing alongside other women and girls, and never was there a more perfect representation of a solution in search of a problem and/or the rawest of red meat for his base.

Orlando Rep. Anna V. Eskamani was one of many lawmakers who issued scathing statements about the bill, saying, “This bigoted, transphobic piece of legislation targets one of the most vulnerable groups of people in our state: transgender youth.” Florida can expect to spend years — and untold amounts of taxpayers’ dollars — fighting this case in court. Our readers were angered by this as well.

@Daniel Higgins Nice way to kick off Pride month. If only Florida cared less about little kids’ genitals and more about things to better Floridians, maybe they wouldn’t be in such crippling debt and so dependent on government subsidies. Florida needs new leadership desperately.

@Minna Alstein He’s creating a problem when there isn’t one. Why is he making laws on potential issues when there are real issues occurring right now?

@Karl Frutchey Maybe next he’ll stop state politicians from sex-trafficking little girls.

@Blaise Joseph Castellano Meanwhile red tide just gets worse and worse with no regulation.

@Jon Spooner How did Florida manage to find somebody worse than Rick Scott?

@JJ Vargas The old “divide-and-conquer” strategy is all they have left. Republicans been doing it for decades, but cat’s out of the bag now.

@Cayla Parks The gravest challenges in generations to America’s economic relevance and very survival are facing us … and we’re prepared to rise to the occasion by hysterically clutching pearls about what’s in kids’ pants. Dumbass bigots.

@Jason Darrough Is this even a problem for his focus? Why now after Memorial Day and during Pride month? He wants to further divide you and create tension and problems where they do not exist. Can’t stand his form of politics.

@Andrea Palmer Phobia. Our state’s environment is being destroyed, our water is filled with algae … and THIS is what he considers most important? He isn’t Christian, for sure.

@Brandon Philbrick What this really boils down to is a bunch of dumbasses who think that boys born male will pretend to be transgender to compete against females. Just another day here in Floridumb.