The sad thing is I remember Florida used to be one of the better places to be queer in the South. Sure, the countryside was never safe much like the rest of the US, But each city had its own scene, Miami and Orlando were two of the US's gay cities, and as someone who grew up outside of Florida, but close enough to frequently visit, it felt like an Island in a sea of intolerance.

Now I don't even feel safe enough to visit the nearest city on the state border, or even Disneyworld anymore. And people I used to know there are trying to flee to my state, because as bad as things are here, they are no where near as oppressive as they are in Florida.

I think Florida is worth taking note of, because even though Florida's path towards fascism is decades in the making, things really accelerated against the queer community within the past 3 years. It went from being one of the safest places to be queer in the South to being the worst, and I still can't believe how quickly it happened.