NEW YORK (1010 WINS) -- LGBTQ+ activists and elected officials protested outside a pro-Israel group’s event over the organization’s decision to invite Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and other homophobic public figures to speak at the event.
Protesters gathered outside Chelsea Piers, which is hosting the Jewish Leadership Conference organized by the Tikvah Fund, around 1:30 p.m.
The protesters were joined by U.S. Rep. Carolyn Maloney, State Sen. Brad Hoylman and Assemblymember Yuh-Line Niou.
“Today, on the 6th anniversary of the Pulse Night Club shooting that killed 49 LGBTQ people,” wrote Hoylman on Twitter. “‘Don’t Say Gay’ Gov Ron DeSantis is speaking at Chelsea Piers today. DeSantis vetoed $150K in funds to provide counseling for Pulse survivors. A disgrace.”
Elected officials and activists called for a boycott of Chelsea Piers due to the event space’s decision to host the conference.
DeSantis has made Florida a national leader in anti-gay and anti-transgender legislation.
He signed a bill prohibiting the discussion of LGBTQ+ people in kindergarten through fourth grade in March and a bill barring trans girls from participating in school sports this month.
Despite popularity among Zionist groups like the Tikvah Fund for his support of Israel, other Jewish groups have denounced DeSantis for aligning himself with far-right anti-Semitic factions in Florida.
As Florida leaders across both parties denounced a Nazi attack on a Jewish student in which men waved swastika flags and shouted anti-Semitic slurs in January, DeSantis opted to lash out at his enemies rather than condemn the attack.
“These people, these Democrats, who are trying to use this as some type of political issue to try and smear me as if I had something to do with it, we are not playing their game,” DeSantis said.
His press secretary later wrote DeSantis had “ALWAYS condemned antisemitic attacks & hatred,” but DeSantis never did condemn the attack.
DeSantis isn’t the only anti-trans or homophobic figure speaking at the event.
Former CIA director Mike Pompeo has worked with groups that back gay conversion therapy, a widely discredited and abusive practice that seeks to force gay people to repress their sexuality.
Columnist Bari Weiss is an enthusiastic defender of the “gender critical” movement — feminist rebranding of transphobic talking points.
Another Columnist, John Podhoretz, was vocally opposed to gay marriage.
The conference features other controversial right-wing public figures like Elliott Abrams, a foreign policy operative who served under Ronald Reagan, George Bush Sr. and Donald Trump. He was famously convicted for involvement in the Iran-Contra scandal and advocated U.S. support for genocidal and repressive regimes in Guatemala, El Salvador and Nicaragua.
In a statement, Chelsea Piers said it “could not disagree more strongly” with DeSantis’ policies and promised to donate money from the conference to LGBTQ+ charities. The event space stopped short of nixing the event.
“Over the past 24 years, Pier Sixty has hosted hundreds of influential and notable events that span the spectrum of social and political issues. Pier Sixty has never controlled the content, program or speakers at these events,” wrote the venue, which is currently sporting Pride Month splash art on its website. “Pier Sixty will direct every dollar it receives from Tikvah to groups that protest LGBTQ+ communities and foster and amplify productive debates about LGBTQ+ issues.”
The event was originally supposed to take place at the Jewish Heritage Museum, but the facility took issue with DeSantis’ presence, according to Tikvah Fund organizers.
The museum denied this claim, and said the organizers had never signed a contract or made a deposit there.
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