The Florida LGBTQ+ Democratic Caucus held a news conference to say the brutal murder of Miami transgender woman London Price is the type of violence tacitly encouraged by Governor Ron DeSantis and state Republican actions.
The LGBTQ+ Caucus said the murder of London Price, a 26-year-old Black transgender woman pistol whipped and killed in front of her grandmother in Miami-Dade County on October 25, 2023, is the foreseeable type of violence tacitly encouraged by the rhetoric and legislative actions of Florida’s Governor and the laws passed in the most recent session of the Florida legislature.
Price’s murder is at least the 25th violent killing of a transgender or gender non-conforming person in 2023, according to the group. The LGBTQ+ Democratic Caucus says “at least” because too often these deaths go unreported – or misreported. HRC also paid tribute to London Price.
“Whether anti-transgender violence, gun violence or other expressions of bigotry it must stop,” said Nathan Bruemmer, president of the Florida LGBTQ+ Democratic Caucus. “Our governor constantly attempts to marginalize transgender and non binary Floridians. Our governor and the legislature put together laws that say it’s OK to discriminate, and in their speeches they’ve suggested that we’re not worthy of respect or protection. Indeed, they have stood with right wing figures who use religion to call for direct violence. And they’ve passed laws that make guns more available to those who would commit crimes like the murder of London Price.”
The Florida LGBTQ+ Democratic Caucus, represents lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer Floridians to the Florida Democratic Party (FDP). The Caucus has 21 chapters across Florida, from Pensacola to Jacksonville to Miami.
The press conference was held at the Rosen Centre Hotel in Orlando, Florida.
This month, Orlando State Representative Rita Harris filed legislation, cited the “Gay and Transgender Panic Legal Defenses Prohibition Act,” to protect gay and transgender Floridians
