After two brutal legislative sessions in Tallahassee, South Florida’s LGBT community is still trying to understand what happened and figure out what’s next. State Rep. Daryl Campbell serves District 99, covering Wilton Manors and surrounding areas. He came to Hagen Park to give constituents a post-session briefing.

“I want to update the people on what we’ve been doing in Tallahassee and what we can do going forward with the new legislation," he said. 

This year saw an expansion of “Don’t Say Gay,” medical care for all LGBT, as well as attacks on drag entertainment plus trans youth and adults. Campbell was frank in his assessment.  

“We have all these social bills that are limiting people’s rights and we want to make sure people have the information and the knowledge they need to combat that.” 

He also promoted services, such as 211, that are available but underutilized. He also pointed out that Medicaid rolls are being systematically purged. 

“We’re here to talk about some of the tough issues, the good and the bad. We’re also promoting the resources out here to let people know they are here to help folks in this new state of Florida that we’re coming into.” 

“We have the immigration bill. We have countless LGBTQ bans. We have the medical conscience bill. There are other bills that don’t favor the community, and we want to make sure that people are aware of what’s in the law and what they can do to combat.” 

Looking Ahead 

Next year’s elections will be tough in Florida. After getting trounced at every level, Democrats are going through a painful rebuilding process. One of the key goals is ending Republican-fascist super majorities in Tallahassee.  

“Absolutely, I think it’s doable.” 

Campbell says he and party leaders are busy recruiting candidates that can win in their districts. He also believes there are independents and others that can be reasonable and reclaim a center that’s been commandeered by the far right. 

“We have a lot of work to do. We’re on the ground recruiting folks to come aboard and pay attention to what’s really going on in Tallahassee.”