Florida Board of Medicine's ban on transgender treatments for minors takes effect

Creator: Ted Eytan / Creative Commons

Florida doctors could lose their medical licenses if they order puberty blockers, hormone therapy or surgery for minors diagnosed with gender dysphoria, under a Florida Board of Medicine rule that took effect Thursday.....MORE

DeSantis seeks to limit Sunshine laws

A dark cloud is descending on Florida's Sunshine laws. Gov. Ron DeSantis and Republican lawmakers are seeking to roll back open records laws.....MORE

Tampa City Council Inches Closer to Approving New Attorney for Police Review Board

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Polk County nonbinary 6th-grader speaks out against new education measures

Florida lawmakers are considering House Bill 1223 and Senate Bill 1320, which would ban discussions in schools about gender and sexuality until ninth grade and bar teachers and contractors from referring to someone by a pronoun that doesn’t correspond with that person’s biological sex.

But one Polk County nonbinary student whose pronouns are them/they is touring around other rural Florida counties sharing perspective.

More HERE

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Lady Godiva in Ybor City

Keel Farms Blueberry Festival

Keel & Curley Winery

Trump spends all day working on Ron DeSantis nicknames

Lawsuit limitation bills keep rolling through the process

A bill that gives insurers, and businesses more protections against lawsuits could pass the House on Friday.

The Florida business community’s top priority for the 2023 Legislative Session, a sweeping bill to limit lawsuits against insurance companies and businesses, was center stage Thursday.

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‘Toxic political ideology’: Florida English professor fired over racial justice unit blames DeSantis

After working for Palm Beach Atlantic University for more than 20 years, Dr. Samuel Joeckel of West Palm Beach has been fired over the teaching of a racial justice unit.....MORE

Florida GOP Proposal Would Ban Pride Flag—But Let Confederate Flag Fly At State Buildings

A Republican lawmaker in Florida filed legislation Tuesday exempting the Confederate flag from a broad proposal to ban most flags from being flown outside government buildings in the state—including LGBTQ pride flags—as culture war issues take the forefront at Florida’s GOP-led legislative session.....MORE

Ron DeSantis Wants to Make It a Felony to Have an Undocumented Person in Your Home or Car

Around 772,000 Florida workers, students, and community members are undocumented. And Governor Ron DeSantis wants to make it a felony for anyone to have them in their home or even give them a ride.....MORE

Federal judge blocks Florida’s ‘Stop Woke Act,’ the CRT ban, again

A federal judge has once again blocked a law that would ban the teaching of Critical Race Theory in Florida’s public education institutions, from kindergarten through college.....MORE

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Ybor Musicians

At Gaspar's Grotto - Ybor City

Panel: DeSantis’ position on Ukraine support is ‘tailor-made for the Tucker Carlson audience’

Six week abortion ban legislation advances in the Florida Senate

A bill that would ban abortions after six weeks of pregnancy has moved forward in Florida after it passed a Senate panel Thursday along party lines.....MORE

Legislation expanding school choice heading to the Senate floor

A bill creating universal school choice — giving vouchers to all students regardless of income — is heading to the full Senate.

The bill (SB 202), sponsored by Sen. Corey Simon of Tallahassee, aced its third committee stop in front of the Senate Appropriations Committee, passing along party lines.

More HERE

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Tampa leaders set to vote on independent attorney for Citizens Review Board

Local activists have been pushing for the CRB to have an independent attorney for months.

On Thursday, Tampa City Council members will vote on whether the Citizens Review Board should get an independent attorney.

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Florida Republicans Accused Of Using ‘Genocidal Rhetoric’ With Bills Targeting Trans People

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Florida GOP IMPOSSIBLE 6-week abortion ban

Shelly Reback on MIDPOINT

LISTEN IN: Tomorrow (Wed) 3/15 at 10 am we will hear from Brandon Wolf, Press Sectr'y for Equality Florida, and several young trans and queer activists about the anti-trans and anti-LGBTQ bills proposed in the Florida legislative session during this "Week of Hate." Tune in to WMNF 88.5 FM or stream wmnf.org. You can join our conversation at 813-239-9663, email dj@wmnf.org or text 813-433-0885 during our live show.

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Ybor City cigar lounge renovation requires relocation of thousands of bats

Senate committee OKs bill eliminating Florida universities’ diversity initiatives

Despite pleas from students, faculty and Democrats, a Senate bill targeting state universities and colleges’ diversity programs and faculty tenure moved a step closer to passage Wednesday.

A Senate education postsecondary committee approved SB 266. A House subcommittee approved the House version of the bill (HB 999) earlier this week.

More HERE

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Glen

Florida House panel supports lowering a threshold for sentencing defendants to death

The House Justice Appropriations Subcommittee voted 8-6 to approve a bill (HB 555) that would eliminate a requirement for unanimous jury recommendations before death sentences can be imposed. Under the bill, judges would sentence people to death based on recommendations of eight of 12 jurors.....MORE

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Cuban ambassador visit to Tampa draws protest

Florida universities told to hand over more records, this time on union talks

State University System Chancellor Ray Rodriguez

On March 1, State University System Chancellor Ray Rodrigues sent a request to presidents for details on the last round of negotiations with their two largest unions. He asked for the names of the bargaining units, the date of last the agreement, how long the negotiations lasted, the total cost of the effort and other information....MORE

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Trump team accuses DeSantis of breaking election laws in ‘shadow presidential campaign’

In documents obtained by NBC News, former President Donald J. Trump, now running in a third campaign for president, has filed an ethics complaint against Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis regarding his “shadow presidential campaign” for the 2024 election.....MORE

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