Monroe County, Florida, home to the Florida Keys, will stop spending public funds to promote several LGBTQ events that draw thousands of tourists to Key West each year.
The county announced the decision on May 5, citing a law signed by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis last month prohibiting public money from being spent on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives. The law bars preferential treatment or special benefits for groups based on characteristics such as race, sex, ethnicity, gender identity, or sexual orientation.
Currently, organizations that host tourist-attracting events can be reimbursed through the Monroe County Tourist Development Council. Groups submit records documenting expenses such as marketing, social media, and vendor costs, and the council reimburses them accordingly. The council is funded by a “bed tax,” a 4% tax on short-term rentals of six months or less, including hotel and motel stays.
Despite the economic boost LGBTQ events provide to Key West, organizers — including the Key West Business Guild, an LGBTQ marketing organization — will no longer be eligible for reimbursement starting January 1, 2027.
Popular LGBTQ events include the Key West Pride Festival and Pride Parade, the all-male Tropical Heat festival, the all-female Key West Womenfest, and the Key West Headdress Ball, where contestants showcase elaborate headdresses and compete for a cash prize.
The Guild has already received more than $135,000 for 2026 to promote those events, meaning current plans do not have to change. But once the ban takes effect in 2027, organizers will have to rely on private donations and business sponsorships to help fund and promote the events.
“Key West always rises above adversity, especially when the wind is against us,” Rob Dougherty, executive director of the Key West Business Guild, told the Miami Herald. “I’m confident we will carry on without a hitch.”
Dougherty also warned that roughly $50,000 in annual funding for the Guild’s Gay Key West Visitor Center could be at risk under the anti-DEI law. But he argued that LGBTQ events — which generate tourism revenue for Key West — are not receiving “preferential treatment” when reimbursed by the council. He also criticized Monroe County officials for citing the law as justification for cutting off the funds.
“[Pride] is about tourism, not DEI,” he said. “The events attract tourists. This law is so vague that it’s challenging.”
But Kristen Livengood, a spokeswoman for Monroe County, told the Miami Herald in a statement that officials reviewed all grant applications and funding allocations “to confirm compliance with the new state law.”
Livengood argued that the county had no choice but to cut the funding, noting that residents could sue if they believe funding LGBTQ events violates the law. Public officials found guilty of violating the law — or the state’s interpretation of it — can also be removed from office.
Joe Saunders, senior political director for the statewide LGBTQ advocacy group Equality Florida, said during an April 17 presentation that the law does not prohibit local governments from issuing permits for events that are ineligible for funding. As such, he said he remains hopeful that vendors and the Pride parade will not be affected.
Dougherty said he believes the LGBTQ events will continue with financial support from businesses and private donors.
“Our policy of One Human Family means that we come together,” he said.
A Christian father who appeared on a court TV show sued his 18-year-old son for $6,000, claiming he was owed reimbursement after the teen failed to complete a summer conversion therapy program his parents had enrolled him in.
The dispute played out on a recently recirculated episode of Equal Justice with Judge Eboni K. Williams, which debuted in 2023. It’s unclear when the episode originally aired, but it was uploaded to YouTube on March 26, 2026.
As noted by LGBTQ Nation, courtroom television shows are not actual courts and don’t have to follow the same rules. Equal Justice bills itself as a "small claims court arbitration" show, meaning a neutral third party -- in this case, Williams -- hears both sides of a dispute and issues a decision that may be binding if the parties agree in advance to accept it. Arbitration is not the same as civil litigation.
Republican lawmakers in Tennessee are pushing a bill that critics warn could effectively create a registry of transgender residents, raising fears it could be used to surveil or harass them.
House Bill 754, sponsored by State Rep. Jeremy Faison (R-Cosby) and Sen. Brent Taylor (R-Memphis), would require all gender clinics in Tennessee to report monthly health data on patients who have received transition-related care to the Department of Health. The department would then publish aggregated annual reports.
The Oktyabrsky District Court in Saratov -- about 500 miles southeast of Moscow -- has fined local news agency SaratovBusinessConsulting (SarBC) 500,000 rubles, or roughly $6,600, for publishing a review of the widely banned HBO gay romance series Heated Rivalry, according to the Russian independent outlet Mediazona.
The charge stems from Russia’s law banning the dissemination of "LGBT propaganda." While the series is barred from television and streaming services in the country, some viewers have still accessed it through virtual private networks or pirated sites.
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