by Joe Siegel

Safehome.org released its third annual study of LGBTQ State Safety Report Cards last month.

“With hate crimes rising and more anti-LGBTQ+ bills under consideration, it’s essential to monitor the state of safety across the nation regularly,” said Rob Gabriele, managing editor of Safehome.com. “That’s why we’ve created this ranking for the third year. To grade all 50 states and Washington, D.C., based on how safe they are for LGBTQ+ people, SafeHome.org’s new scoring system includes both legislative analysis and hate crime data from the FBI.”

Rhode Island, New Hampshire, and Delaware all received A+ grades for LGBTQ safety based on their comprehensive pro-equality laws and low rates of hate crimes against LGBTQ people.

South Dakota, Florida, and Wyoming were the worst states for LGBTQ safety, earning F grades due to their high number of discriminatory laws and hate crime reporting rates. Florida’s ranking changed dramatically since last year when it had the 15th lowest safety score.

Quoting from the report, OutSFL, based in Wilton Manors, reported: “In the second-worst spot for LGBTQ+ safety comes Florida, which has one of the worst legal environments and ranked dead last in participation rates for law enforcement agency crime reporting. Last year, Florida was the 15th worst state in our ranking, but newer and harsher legislation contributed to its plummeting safety score.”

OutSFL continued, “[The report] goes on to remind the world what LGBTQ Floridians are living through: the ‘Don’t Say Gay’ law, book bans, medical restrictions and obstacles for trans youth and adults, misgendering of students in public schools, and more. It also cites 2023’s ban on drag entertainment, which is on hold by a federal court. Aside from the morally abhorrent nature of the attacks, it is also hitting Florida’s bottom line. Many organizations pulled events and conventions out of Broward County, and the true loss will never be known, since it’s impossible to know which groups never even considered South Florida due to oppressive laws.”

Rick Todd, owner and publisher of Orlando-based Watermark, agrees that “Florida earned that rating.”

“It is no secret that Florida can suck for the LGBTQ+ community,” said Todd. “Our governor and the state legislature seem to go out of their way to make life difficult for us. I have no intention of lessening the terrible impact their laws have on my community. However, I will point out that in addition to the drag ban currently being blocked, there are parts of the gender-affirming care laws that have been deemed unconstitutional by a federal judge. The ‘Don’t Say Gay or Trans’ law reached a settlement in court that allows students and teachers to say gay and trans and be gay and trans.”

Despite these setbacks, Todd encourages LGBTQ tourists to visit Florida to show their support for the small businesses in the state as well as members of the state’s queer communities.

“So much of our time is spent fighting hate laws, and now we have to worry about our bottom lines as events diminish due to travel fears. Small businesses in major cities suffer when conventions pull out or bypass us and advertising outlets suffer because corporations are afraid of backlash. This isn’t the time to abandon Floridians, it is the time to step up and show support for those who are suffering the most. Bring your big queer conventions to Orlando, Tampa, St. Pete, Sarasota or Fort Lauderdale. If you don’t, you’re just giving the bullies what they want.”

In addition to Florida, nearly half of the states passed new anti-LGBTQ legislation in 2023. Hate crimes targeting LGBTQ people rose 10 percent between 2021 and 2022, and hate crimes against transgender people, in particular, surged 40 percent.

Fifty-nine percent of LGBTQ people say their state’s laws help them feel safer, but 89 percent say federal action is needed to enshrine protections fully, according to the report.

“I certainly agree with [Iowa’s] grade of C,” said Tim Nedoba, publisher of Iowa’s GoGuide. But, he added, “There are some very notable exceptions to our low ranking. The Cedar Rapids tourism office has had, and still has, a very active LGBTQ outreach. When I was living in Chicago several years ago, a representative from Cedar Rapids was promoting the area at a tourism expo at the Center on Halsted shortly after Iowa’s Supreme Court ruled in favor of marriage equality, promoting the area as a place to visit and to become legally married in Iowa.  This was long before such equality was available in Illinois.”

Nedoba admits that unless you live in or have been to Iowa, it’s not a place that is top of mind in terms of travel. But, he said, “Iowa is no different from Illinois and other Midwestern states except Chicago and other large communities. Places like Iowa City, Des Moines metro, and Cedar Rapids are all great communities to visit, and certainly, LGBTQ travelers can feel safe.”

Nedoba also admits that he has had difficulty attracting travel advertising despite a concerted effort to include much travel content. “There is an opportunity for local businesses to work together as a coalition to reach out to other large Midwestern cities to present Iowa as an attractive place to visit.”

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Volume 26
Issue 4