‘Free to do as you are told’: Florida Republicans advance wave of draconian bills

It has been a long and painful month in the Florida legislature for opponents of the state's Trumpist governor Ron DeSantis and his loyal band of rightwing Republicans. A slew of bills has advanced attacking everything from diversity rights, abortion protections and free speech in schools, in addition to a proposal that would legally shield white people from feeling "discomfort" over the state's racist past.

And last Wednesday, an anti-masker physician, hand picked by the governor and apathetic about the value of Covid-19 vaccines, was backed unanimously by a Republican senate panel as the next surgeon-general following a walk-out by Democratic politicians frustrated by Joseph Ladapo's evasiveness.

To hear DeSantis tell it, the "freedom state" of Florida is merely following the will of a populist citizenry in defying the perceived tyranny of the federal government, determined to protect liberty in the face of a deadly pandemic that has claimed more than 64,000 of their fellow residents, and standing up against the "indoctrination" of children.

Yet as the possible 2024 presidential candidate presses ahead with turning Florida into what critics see as his own conservative fiefdom - a de facto Trumpistan of the south with an "Orwellian-sounding" election police force - DeSantis is finding opposition beginning to harden.

More of the state's 21 million people, which elected him in 2018 by barely 32,000 votes, appears displeased at the creeping authoritarianism and is keen to show DeSantis - who will be seeking re-election in November - that Florida is not the solidly red state he believes it to be.

Those voices come from parents, doctors, LBGTQ+ activists, proponents of voting rights and others who will be affected if many of the Republican bills, as expected, become law.

"People do not like the authoritarian nature of this governor and the way that he has weaponized fear between his constituents to try to curry favor with his base," said Brandon Wolf, development manager and spokesperson for Equality Florida.