The Florida Department of Transportation announced this week that language proclaiming the “Free State of Florida” has been placed on all welcome signs for motorists entering and departing the Sunshine State.
Gov. Ron DeSantis has invoked that phrase for years now, since he made Florida one of the first states in the country to open its economy after the COVID-19 lockdowns in 2020. In his 2022 State of the State address, the governor proclaimed Florida “the freest state in the United States,” and in his 2021 State of the State address he said, “The Florida sun now serves as a beacon of light to those who yearn for freedom.”
DeSantis’ newly formed political committee campaigning against the proposed state constitutional amendments on adult recreational cannabis and abortion rights is named the Florida Freedom Fund.
Not everyone feels that Florida is so free — particularly when it comes to reproductive rights, since the state now bans most abortions after six weeks of pregnancy.
Speaking in Tampa at the Veterans Memorial Park and Museum on Wednesday to celebrate the DeSantis’ administration policies regarding veterans, Lt. Gov. Jeanette Nuñez was asked by the Phoenix about the belief expressed by critics that Florida is free to some but not all.
“We continue to stand by ‘the Free State of Florida,’” she replied. “We believe that we provide freedom, freedom to right to life, of course for those babies. We continue to stand by freedom of opportunity, that’s something that the governor has prided himself on, and I think the proof is in the pudding when we see how many people are moving to Florida vis-á-vis other states.”
The state has seen explosive growth in recent years. Florida was the fastest-growing state in the country in 2022, according to the U.S. Census, and virtually tied with South Carolina in that category last year.
The Florida Department of Transportation has not yet reported how much the signs have cost taxpayers. Another reporter referenced that Nuñez had posed in front of one of the new welcome signs and asked her to explain to taxpayers why the state was paying for them.
Nuñez responded that every state has such signs and that “we want everyone to know that coming into the state that this is the free state of Florida.”
“We will never back away from that,” she added. “We’ve made sure to pride ourselves on providing so many opportunities for Floridians. Floridians themselves are loving the signs, so I’m sure you’ll see a lot more people posting pictures in front of that sign.”
Controversial policies
In addition to advocates for reproductive rights, people have raised objections to a number of controversial policies passed in recent years on the “freedom” front, such as removing books from public classrooms and, most recently, a ban on the sale, manufacture, or distribution of cultivated meat, on pain of up to 60 days in jail.
DeSantis’ signing of that bill into law triggered GOOD Meat, one of only two companies in the United States that have been cleared by the U.S. Department of Agriculture to produce such lab-grown meat, to issue a response.
“In a state that purportedly prides itself on being a land of freedom and individual liberty, its government is now telling consumers what meat they can or cannot purchase,” the company said on its website. “This bill sends a terrible message to the investors, scientists, and entrepreneurs that have built America’s global leadership in alternative proteins.”
Florida Department of Transportation Jared Purdue announced in May that as “Floridians prepare for Freedom Summer,” the state’s bridges would be illuminated in red, white, and blue colors from Memorial Day through Labor Day. That meant that bridges in places like Jacksonville, St. Petersburg, and Miami would not be lit up in rainbow colors for Pride Month, celebrated in June.
“It’s one of the least free things,” Todd Delmay, executive director of the LGBTQ advocacy group SAVE, told WPLG Local 10 in Miami last month. “Clearly, there’s a very petty motive here to take away these very obvious symbols of an LGBTQ community that’s been under attack,” he said.
The Florida Department of Transportation did not immediately respond to our request for comment.
–Mitch Perry, Florida Phoenix
Thurston Howel III says
I LOVE seeing the Bridges in Red, White & Blue. That is the ONLY colors that should be on there!
can'tfoolme says
Absolutely right! We all are Americans and we all are not LGBTQ persons.
Laurel says
III: Why?
R.S. says
Strange idea of “freedom” where some folks who cannot afford an operation are “free” to die, where homeless people are denied places to camp out, where people who can give birth “must” give birth, where people who teach history “must” teach a prescribed history, where people may not peacefully assemble to ask for redress of grievances, etc. Perhaps the line from Thomas Gray’s Ode might be more appropriate for those self-congratulatory lines on the welcome signs: “. . . where ignorance is bliss, ‘Tis folly to be wise.”
Laurel says
For those of you who have not read George Orwell’s “1984,” though you should, this is what is known as “newspeak.” DeSantis is counting on us being ignorant. He, and his minions, disgust me. Florida is now the laughing stock of the country, and possibly, the world. Yeah, come on jokers and clowns, welcome to Florida, the supposedly “free” state.
Oh, and when have people not flocked to Florida?
Idiots.
Jim says
This sign is just a political stunt by a Republican government. Florida is “free” so long as you agree with the Republican positions. If you do not, well, that’s just tough luck for you! This is pretty much all I see out of the Republicans. Make a show of something regarding the “culture war” and trumpet how much they support “freedoms”.
This country used to stand for freedom. Even during the Vietnam war when protesters burned American flags, as mad as it made a lot of people, it was allowed because we all have the right to free expression even when we don’t agree on how that’s done. Now, we do all we can to push transgenders, gays, minorities, non-Christians, etc. out of society as much as possible. We make live so hard on those that are not like “us” that they rightly feel they are being abused and pushed out. And Republicans are proud of that.
I’ll continue to say – all of us need to look at Germany in the 1930’s and see the parallels to our current right-wing rampage. That didn’t end well for Germany and it won’t end well here either. I sincerely hope Donald Trump is defeated in November and he can either disappear or go to jail. Once he’s put in his rightful place, I hope the country will come to it’s senses on all this nonsense and perhaps we can all be Americans again – despite our politics.
Laurel says
Jim: They want their felon free. You know, like the way Trump commuted his friend Roger Stone’s felonies.
Atwp says
Jim I agree with you 100%. As a senior African American, I see this country most of the times trying to make hard for my people, and other people of color.
Laurel says
Atwp: It’s not the country, it’s a portion of the country. People who have a low opinion of themselves and need someone to put down so that they can feel better about themselves. I think the majority of Americans do not feel that way. No particular *race* is above this unfortunate way of thinking.