Skift Take
A tourist attraction has cut ties with Visit Florida over its LGTBQ Travel removal. It’s only one but more could follow, putting pressure on the organization to change course.
Stonewall National Museum & Archives has ended its decade-old membership with Visit Florida after the organization removed its LGBTQ Travel page.
“As a community and as an organization, we’re not represented at all,” said Robert Kesten, executive director for the organization, which is based in Fort Lauderdale. “It seems futile to keep throwing good money after that.”
Kesten posted on LinkedIn that he had asked for a refund of the membership fee, which he told Skift was $475. Visit Florida processed the refund on September 5.
Sometime this summer, Visit Florida took down a page on its website that had featured the Stonewall National Museum and provided information on other businesses, beaches, and destinations friendly to LGBTQ travelers.
Kesten said Stonewall wasn’t benefiting from its membership with Florida’s destination marketing organization. “Over the last few years, we’ve certainly felt somewhat ignored when we’ve applied to make presentations and other things at conferences,” he said.
The page removal was the last straw. “The material was there and people were able to find us and other organizations like ours,” said Kesten. “Those opportunities to be discovered disappeared.”
Visit Florida did not respond to two requests for comment by email regarding Stonewall.
Visit Florida CEO and President Dana Young acknowledged the removal of the page at a board meeting on August 28. “Visit Florida is a taxpayer funded organization and, as such, Visit Florida, our marketing strategy, our materials and our content must align with the state,” she said.
Reaction From Other States and DMOs
After the removal of Visit Florida’s LGBTQ page got attention, Enjoy Illinois updated its website with a display that said: “Lack of Love in the Sunshine State? Come to Illinois!”
“Since some states are removing LGBTQIA+ sections from their websites, we’ve decided to make it even easier to find more information about how Illinois embraces inclusivity,” the page reads.
Colorado Governor Jared Polis, America’s first openly gay governor, posted on Facebook: “Hello gay tourists! Since Florida doesn’t want you, come on over to explore what Colorado has to offer!”
The Greater Miami Convention & Visitors Bureau, Visit Lauderdale, Visit Tampa Bay and Visit Orlando each still have their pages up. “While Visit Florida removes its LGBTQ+ page from its website, Visit Lauderdale values, respects and sees those from marginalized communities and commits to providing them a welcoming and inclusive experience,” wrote Stacy Ritter, CEO and president of Visit Lauderdale, on LinkedIn.
Visit Florida’s Budget Request
Visit Florida is a public-private partnership funded primarily through the state legislature and private organizations. It is currently seeking $100 million in funding from the state legislature, up from its current allocation of $80 million.
Visit Florida did not respond to an email request for comment regarding its budget request.
In the second quarter of 2024, Florida had 34.2 million visitors, up 1.7% from the same period last year.
In 2022, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed into law legislation (dubbed “Don’t Say Gay” by critics) that banned discussions of sexual orientation and gender identity as part of formal instruction in public schools.
At a press conference on August 28, DeSantis said Visit Florida shouldn’t have separate pages for travelers based on sexual orientation or gender identity.
“Our view as a state is we are the best place to visit, we’re welcome to all, but we’re not going to be segregating people by these different characteristics. That’s not how we’ve done business in any of things we’ve done,” said DeSantis.