A STEP BACK

Florida’s Tourism Website Quietly Removes Its ‘LGBTQ Travel’ Section

The website still has landing pages specific to other minority groups, like Black and Hispanic travelers.

Florida’s official tourism website quietly deleted a landing page for “LGBTQ travel” sometime in the last four months, archived versions of the site show. The change was first reported by NBC News, which noted the LGBTQ Travel page’s old URL on VisitFlorida.com now directs users to a general “things to do” page. It’s unclear why the change was made and who made the decision to remove it. Visit Florida is a nonprofit that’s operated as a public-private partnership since Florida’s legislature created it in 1996. The website still has landing pages specific to other minority groups, like Black and Hispanic travelers. Advice for LGBTQ travelers remains on the website, but now must be accessed through a specific search. Florida has become more hostile for LGBTQ people with Gov. Ron DeSantis in office. Since 2021, the state’s legislature has passed laws to limit the instruction of sexual orientation in public schools, to force trans people to use their birth-assigned gender in bathrooms on college campuses, and outright banned public universities from using state or federal funds on DEI programs.