Florida Gov. DeSantis: Christians could sue anyone who calls them homophobic if this GOP bill passes
(This is really insanity.) Watch out for this guy DeSantis. Crap like this could hit everyone in the US, even if NOT LGBT. It's a forerunner as to what could happen in many areas.
https://www.lgbtqnation.com/2023/02/christians-could-sue-people-who-call-them-homophobic-if-this-gop-bill-passes/?utm_id=top_story
The bill's author made sure everyone understood that it's not just about journalists, it's about everyone, even on social media.
State Rep. Alex Andrade (R) filed H.B. 991 on Tuesday. The bill would make it easier to sue journalists, publications, or social media users for defamation if they accuse someone of racism, sexism, homophobia, or transphobia. The bill specifically says that publications can’t use truth as a defense when it comes to reporting on people’s anti-LGBTQ+ sentiments by citing the person’s “constitutionally protected religious expression or beliefs” or “a plaintiff’s scientific beliefs.”
And the bill isn’t limited to professional journalists in scope – it affects anyone in public, including people on social media.
“If someone calls you a fa***t or tra**y and you say they discriminated against you, they can now sue you for at least $35k and cite their religious beliefs,” she noted on Twitter. “This would apply to the internet as well. This would empower bigots to target the LGBTQ community with impunity.”
“This applies to the internet as well so if the person is in Florida, you could be liable even if you have never stepped foot in Florida.”
If a magazine reports that, for example, Pastor Jonathan Shelley is anti-LGBTQ+ because he said he would be supportive “if someone walks into a homo bar and shoots ’em all, shoots a bunch of homos and kills all of them,” Shelley could sue the magazine. The magazine could be blocked from citing his statements as proof of anti-LGBTQ+ sentiment because they’re a part of his “constitutionally protected religious expression or beliefs.”
“Journalists are seeing this as something that only applies to them, but this applies across the board,” Andrade – the bill’s author – said earlier this week, explaining that it applies to social media users as well.
?&auto=format&auto=compress&w=790&h=530
= new reply since forum marked as read
MF Homophobic. 
