Thousands of Students Across Florida Walk Out Against Don’t Say Gay Bill

Thousands of students across Florida walked out in a statewide mobilization against the Don’t Say Gay bill, which would ban discussion of LGBT+ issues in elementary schools and has passed through the state legislature.

High schools participated reaching from Seminole County to Flagler, with Riverview High, Freedom High, Gibbs High and many more present. In Tallahassee, students marched from their high schools to the Florida House, occupying the floors to condemn the bill’s passage.

Repression was also reported during the walkouts, with the lead organizer being suspended indefinitely by his school for passing out Pride flags.

Davenport High, Polk County

Wiregrass Ranch High, Pasco County

Lakewood High, St. Petersburg, Pinellas County

Bayside High School, Palm Bay, Brevard County

Terry Parker High, Jacksonville, Duval County

Freedom High School, Orlando, Orange County

Hillsborough High, Tampa, Hillsborough County

Largo High, Largo, Pinellas County

Gibbs High School, St. Petersburg, Pinellas County

Florida House of Representatives

Hundreds in Orlando Protest Don’t Say Gay Bill

Hundreds of protesters gathered in Orlando to denounce the Don’t Say Gay bill, which would prohibit the discussion of LGBT+ issues in classrooms across Florida. The bill recently passed through the House, without an amendment that would have forced schools to out students to their families in 6 weeks or less.

100 St. Petersburg Protesters Gather at City Hall Demanding Rent Control

Over 100 protesters gathered outside the St. Petersburg City Hall to demand rent control amid one of the worst housing crises in American history, of which St. Petersburg and other Florida cities are epicenters. 

Many organizations, including Tampa Bay Party for Socialism and Liberation, St. Petersburg People’s Council, and the Allendale Methodist Church spoke at the event, condemning the city government for refusing to acknowledge the struggles of the people outside its doors.

Members of the St. Petersburg People’s Council voted to escalate if the city doesn’t take action, gathering signatures from residents willing to set up an encampment at the city hall. Despite the risk of arrest, many signed up, holding the belief that incarceration is a lesser burden than excessive rent.

Media via St. Petersburg Tenants’ Union

60 protesters gather north of Tampa demanding release of Leonard Peltier

Around 60 protesters assembled to demand the release of indigenous political prisoner Leonard Peltier at the Coleman Federal Correctional Institute, an hour’s drive north of Tampa. Peltier, now 77 years old, has been infected with COVID-19 for more than a week and has been denied parole and release.

Leonard Peltier was an activist for the American Indian Movement, who has been incarcerated for over 44 years in what is internationally considered one of the most corrupt trials in American history. Peltier was accused of shooting and killing 2 FBI agents at point-blank range, but a prosecutor conceded that the government does not know who shot the agents.

Regardless, it was asserted that he is equally guilty whether he shot the agents at point-blank range, or participated in the shoot-out from a distance. Peltier’s co-defendants participated in the shootout from a distance but were nonetheless acquitted.

An FBI ballistics expert testified that a casing found near the agents’ bodies matched the gun tied to Peltier. A previous ballistic test proving that the casing had not come from Peltier’s gun, however, was intentionally concealed.

One of the prosecutors in the case later admitted that the trial was a sham, calling for the release of Peltier. The AIM activist’s incarceration continues in spite of ever-growing evidence suggesting he was framed.

Photos via PSL Tampa Bay