Drag queens have been banished, but DeSantis will never diminish our pride | Opinion

Drag queens will not be permitted to perform at this year’s Pride Parade in Wilton Manors, Florida, this weekend, in keeping with Gov. Ron DeSantis’ war on LGBTQIA rights. The community’s mood, however, is vibrant, guarded and charged with steely determination.

Living in Wilton Manors, the current epicenter of oppression for the LGBTQIA community, I’ve got a front-row seat as DeSantis corrals hate for political gain through legislation, book bans and brutal rhetoric.

But, rest assured, the governor’s radical posturing cannot be sustained. Americans are polling overwhelmingly in favor of LGBTQIA rights, with even a slim Republican majority of 55% that thinks there is too much legislation targeting this community. And when one looks toward the decisively inclusive Y, Z and Alpha generations, the future is decidedly brighter.

Yes, DeSantis’ 16th century tactics, taken straight out of Machiavelli’s playbook, “The Prince,” will fall of their own dead weight and deceitful intent.

As a political strategist, author and social justice advocate for 50 years, I find comfort by leaning into our community’s rich legacy of courage. Let’s look to one of our most courageous pioneers, hailed as the mother of the modern gay movement.

“Gay is good,” was the message of my friend and mentor, Barbara Gittings (1932-2007) as she was named one of Time Magazine’s Women of the Year in 1964. In 1958 Gittings started the New York chapter of the Daughters of Bilitis, the first lesbian civil-rights group in the United States. From 1963 to 1966, she was the editor of the first national lesbian magazine, The Ladder. She established the Gay Caucus within the American Library Association, leading to the inclusion of positive literature about homosexuality. Her efforts and testimony before the American Psychiatric Association led to the 1973 removal of homosexuality as a mental disorder.

Honoring our pioneers’ legacy of courage not only provides historic perspective, it also fuels our personal resolve toward full equality.

At a time when role models were scarce, Gittings was a beacon of hope and courage. Following her lead, I marched through the ‘70s drafting equal rights legislation without a prayer of passage, counseled PFLAG parents building bridges back to their LGBT children, channeled my energies strategically through the age of AIDS and became founding board president of Philadelphia’s LGBTQ youth center, The Attic — now in its 30th year.

Coming out over 50 years ago was liberating, but not easy. We were herded into police vans during routine raids at Philadelphia’s dance clubs, thrown off the University of Delaware’s campus (our faculty advisor fired) for publicizing our 1972 Gay Student Union. There was an absence of allies, legal protections and rights, and daily ridicule and attacks by our own government.

Yet adversity has always made us stronger as a community. It moved us forward and molded our brilliant resilience. We need that resolve today, which brings us back to Florida’s drag-free Pride Parade.

Perhaps the most disturbing parallel between DeSantis and Machiavelli is their shared tactic of forcing a setback in detractors’ lifestyle.

How does one apply Machiavelli’s 16th century game plan in 2023, when mass shootings are an accepted norm, white supremacy hits epidemic levels, the Supreme Court loses its credibility, Russian aggression escalates and global warming devastates as America settles for the best Congress money can buy?

You flip the script through distraction — “Look over there!” You target communities that threaten your power using rhetoric and legislation to diminish, dishonor, dismantle and devastate.

You remove access to Black history, decimate LGBTQIA rights with terms like “groomers” and “pedophiles,” take away a woman’s governance over her own body and give greater access than ever to assault weapons while appealing to those that can best finance your rise to power. You ban decades of books that speak an ugly truth — books like those championed by Gittings long ago.

So here’s to those from decades passed on whose shoulders we stand once again, most of whom knew they’d never see much of the promised land, yet chose to pave that road anyway. Thank you, courageous stewards, for demanding light in times of darkness. We lean into your courage to carry that torch.

And Happy Pride, dear Florida community. Stand tall. Especially those of you in heels.

David Topel is the author of “The Heart of a Leader: The ‘72 Biden Senate Campaign: Lessons from a Youth-Driven Upset.”