Election 2024

Gabrielle Union urges Floridians to vote anti-LGBTQ+ Gov. Ron DeSantis out of office

“There are people in [Miami] who do not feel safe here, do not feel protected here, don’t feel the love.”
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Gabrielle Union urges Floridians to vote anti-LGBTQ+ Gov. Ron DeSantis out of office
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - MARCH 16: Gabrielle Union attends the Premiere of Disney's "Cheaper By The Dozen" on March 16, 2022 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic) Photo: FilmMagic

Gabrielle Union returned to Florida earlier last week, months after husband Dwyane Wade said the couple and their family left the state in part due to its anti-LGBTQ+ laws.

Union was in Miami for the American Black Film Festival (ABFF), where she was promoting a new Netflix rom-com, The Perfect Find, and her BET docuseries, My Journey to 50, which follows the actor and activist on a trip to Africa for her 50th birthday. But on her mind as well were the recent slate of anti-LGBTQ+ laws signed by Florida governor and 2024 presidential hopeful Ron DeSantis (R), as well as the state’s “Stop W.O.K.E. Act,” which has had a devastating impact on teachers’ ability to discuss Black history in schools.

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The supportive parents were hounded because of some people’s hatred of their trans daughter.

Speaking to Variety on the ABFF red carpet, Union explained why it was important for her to return to Miami, where she and Wade owned a home until 2021, despite the state’s anti-Black and anti-LGBTQ+ politics.

“I’m here to say that there are people in this city — in this very city — who do not feel safe here, do not feel protected here, don’t feel the love,” Union said.

In May, Miami Beach mayor Dan Gelber, along with the mayors of seven other Florida cities including Tallahassee, Tampa, and Fort Lauderdale, signed on to GLESEN’s Rise Up Pledge, promising to support LGBTQ+ young people in the face of legislation being pushed by the state’s Republican-led legislature.

But as Union noted, anti-LGBTQ+ state laws affect all Floridians.

“When you are governed, it doesn’t matter if you’re in Tallahassee or Key West, you’re still under the same rules and regulations,” she said, before encouraging Floridians to vote DeSantis out of office. “I’m here to let people know that there is a way out and that’s called voting him out.”

Union and Wade have been fierce champions of Wade’s transgender daughter Zaya since the teen came out in 2020, speaking out publicly in support of trans rights as the community has come under relentless attack from right-wing media and Republican politicians. In an April episode of Showtime’s Headliners with Rachel Nichols, Wade told the host that Florida’s anti-LGBTQ+ laws were part of the reason why he and Union decided to relocate their family to California.

“I mean, obviously, the tax [situation in Florida] is great. Having Wade County is great,” the former Miami Heat star said, referencing a 2010 vote by Miami-Dade County commissioners to temporarily rename the county “Miami-Wade County” in his honor. “But my family would not be accepted or feel comfortable there. And so that’s one of the reasons why I don’t live there.”

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Election 2024
Don't Say Gay Dwyane Wade Florida Gabrielle Union Miami FL Ron DeSantis Stop WOKE Act Zaya Wade

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