Florida’s first out gay Latino lawmaker believes the state can still be saved from Ron DeSantis

Carlos Guillermo Smith, Florida’s first out gay Latino lawmaker, was elected as the Democratic representative to the Florida Legislature in 2016, just months after the Pulse nightclub shooting in his district in Orlando.

Now he’s running to represent a newly redrawn Senate district in the same area, including Union Park in East Orlando, where he lives with his husband, Jerick Mediavilla Negron, an educator from Corozal, Puerto Rico.

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The first member of his family native to the U.S., Guillermo Smith was born to a Canadian mother and Peruvian father in Ft. Lauderdale. During his time as a representative in Tallahassee, he championed gun control, public education, and LGBTQ+ rights. He has also been a consistent defender and advocate for survivors of the Pulse attack.

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He was a longtime chair of the Legislative Progressive Caucus in the Florida House before losing reelection in 2022 to Republican Susan Plasencia in a newly redrawn district.

Now Guillermo Smith serves as a senior policy advisor for Equality Florida as he seeks a return to the state capital. We spoke on a mild day in Central Florida, where the 42-year-old was at home sporting shorts and a t-shirt from one of the many marches he’s attended protesting gun violence.

LGBTQ NATION: What does your T-shirt say?

CARLOS GUILLERMO SMITH: “March for Our Lives.”

The course of your first campaign, and your time as a Florida rep, was irrevocably changed with the Pulse nightclub shooting in June 2016, which killed 49 people and injured 53. Seven years later, does anything in the aftermath give you hope?

Young people give me hope. They have lifted up and elevated their voices and really demanded action on behalf of so many folks who have been killed by gun violence. Young people in Florida are taking the state by storm, whether it be showing up at school board meetings, going to Tallahassee to fight for their rights, or engaging in the political forum. They have hope for the future. And that gives me hope, as well.

In 2018, your longtime boyfriend, Jerick Mediavilla Negron, proposed to you on stage at a Pride event in Orlando. Your response was, “F**k, yes.”

(laughing) Yes.

What legislation that you hope to pass as a Florida Senator — if you’re elected — would inspire the same response?

Actually creating — no, recreating — a more inclusive state that loves and respects everyone. In the last couple of years, with Ron DeSantis‘s leadership, we have seen the rights of LGBTQ+ people, immigrants, workers, and women undermined by a right-wing governor whose only motivating principle is power and ambition. I think what’s happened in our state does not reflect who Floridians are. So being able to repeal so many of these hateful laws and also enact policies that improve the lives of everyday people, ultimately, is the goal, and we’ve got a long way to go.

How did you and your husband meet?

We met at a Proyecto Somos Orlando event locally. Proyecto Somos Orlando is a project of the Hispanic Federation founded in the aftermath of the Pulse nightclub tragedy, and they host local events to connect folks with resources and get them involved.

And I met my husband there for the first time and thought that he was straight (laughing). And I was very intrigued by him and started low-key stalking him on social media afterwards to try to figure out what his deal was. And it occurred to me after doing some fact-finding that maybe his interest in me was personal, and that’s how it started.

Was there any one thing that you discovered on social or some other app that came up and you’re like, “Okay, now I get it.”

I found several photos of former partners on social media, and I was just like, “Right. Right. Right.” And also, I knew then that my gaydar is just totally beyond malfunction at this point.

You have a long association with the ASPCA. Do you have any animal companions?

We live in a modest condo in East Orlando. It’s always been an aspiration to adopt a former racing dog, so it’s a work in progress.

Tell us about your work helping greyhounds in Florida.

Well, for too long, this cruel and inhumane greyhound racing industry was allowed to continue in Florida. It was an archaic practice that saw dwindling returns. People weren’t paying to see greyhound racing animals anymore, but an outdated state law required greyhound racing to exist in order to have on-site indoor gambling. We knew that a greyhound racing dog died on the track in Florida every three days.

Oh my God.

And the urgency behind ending this practice was real. We tried legislative reforms. I even championed legislation to prohibit anabolic steroids, which were these harmful drugs that these dogs were being pumped full of to keep them racing. And it just wasn’t enough.

So ultimately, we backed a constitutional amendment that was put before voters to outlaw this cruel and inhumane practice and it got overwhelming majority support from voters. And now it’s a thing of the past in our state. We’re extremely proud of that work.

You have an outsized number of awards to your credit, including the ASPCA Leadership Award, the Elizabeth Taylor Legislative Leadership Award, one from the Florida Council on American Islamic Relations, and many others. What are some of the awards you’re disappointed you have not earned?

(laughing) Well, look, I mean, we are really more focused on making sure that we’re doing the work, rather than getting recognition, but one of these days I would love to be able to say that I won an American Idol contest or some other reality show, which would be a lot of fun.

Actually, fun fact: I was a contestant on Fear Factor.

Oh, no way.

I was on that show in 2004 at the peak of its popularity when Joe Rogan was the host – before he went crazy. And a lot of people are surprised to find that out in random Google searches where they see videos of me dangling from a boat plane or submerged in a tank of Moray eels.

Ron DeSantis’ war on Disney is just another in a long list of aggressively mean-spirited provocations as governor against gay people, immigrants, and “wokism.” Why is Ron DeSantis such a prick?

Well, he’s an unrepentant authoritarian, and the war against Disney is all about Ron DeSantis’s fragile ego. He can’t stand the fact that one of the most powerful corporations in the state and the world didn’t capitulate to his extreme agenda and had the temerity to say that dehumanizing LGBTQ+ people was wrong. And he responded by using the full power of the state to punish them for speaking out against Don’t Say Gay.

At the end of the day, in this country, which is a democracy, where folks have the right to free speech, you can’t use government to punish folks for speaking out. It’s totally un-American. And that’s why Disney will prevail in their lawsuit against the administration.

One of Governor DeSantis’s obsessions is lowering the age for children in Florida to work. Is having kids work night shifts on a school night a viable solution to Florida’s labor shortage?

Absolutely not. We have a labor shortage in the state of Florida that is driven by anti-immigrant laws. The way to solve the labor shortage is not by repealing child labor laws. We need to strengthen our child labor laws, not weaken them.

You’re a dapper dresser. To whom do you owe your fashion sense?

(laughing) Not today, I’m not, but before I entered politics, I managed a Men’s Wearhouse store for eight years. So if I have a bit of a fashion edge in the Florida capitol, I have the Men’s Wearhouse to thank for the many years I spent in retail management.

Would your husband ever consider taking a cue from Casey DeSantis and wearing a cape to your Senate inauguration?

(laughing) Absolutely not.

But I am so grateful to always have Jerick by my side. It’s really great, actually, to live in Orlando and live our lives openly and authentically. We are privileged to be able to do that as a same-sex couple. Not everyone can, and that has everything to do with the inclusive community and inclusive culture that we’ve created in Orlando, which is under threat by a bigoted right-wing agenda.

At some recent Florida concerts, Pink gave away books that were banned under legislation championed by Ron DeSantis. What’s a book you’d like to give away to Floridians?

And Tango Makes Three is the perfect example of what’s so wrong with this censorship agenda. It’s about two male penguins raising a baby penguin, and it communicates our values very well, which is that same-sex couples are a healthy, normal part of every society and every community, and young people, specifically [those] who come from LGBTQ+ families, need their story presented in school libraries and literature in public schools. It reinforces those values of inclusion and love. Removing those books, then, is the opposite and sends a message of exclusion.

As you’ve pointed out on social media, DeSantis’s anti-woke legislation, Senate Bill 266, really is breathtaking in its scope and would strip state funds from any college program that advocates for “social issues.” How do you define that kind of centralized, government-mandated censorship?

This is the stuff of authoritarian regimes. Democracies don’t engage in this type of censorship of free speech. DeSantis defines “social issues” as topics that “polarize or divide society among political, ideological, moral or religious beliefs, positions or norms.” I can’t think of any topic that does not fit under that definition. It’s very dangerous.

Who would win in a cage fight? Trump or DeSantis?

Who knows? They’re both rule-breakers.  

You have to have dinner with Chaya Raichik from Libs of Tik Tok or Gays Against Groomers founder Jaimie Mitchell. Who do you choose and why?

That dinner is never going to happen.

What is the single most important thing the world can do to address climate change?

Taking personal responsibility for reducing emissions.

Do you own an EV?

I have a hybrid. Halfway there.

Should Joe Biden step aside for a younger Democratic standard-bearer?

I think that Biden has been extraordinarily accomplished as president of the United States and I’m also really excited about what the future holds for the National Democratic Party after he’s finished his second term.

Who do you have in mind?

I am very much a fan of [California] Governor [Gavin] Newsom.

Is Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. a truth teller or just misunderstood?

I think he’s a conspiracy theorist.

Favorite Walt Disney World attraction?

Favorite there is Flight of Passage, the Avatar ride at Animal Kingdom, but you can’t leave out the VelociCoaster ride at Universal Studios Orlando. Hands down, best attraction.

What’s been your favorite part of representing Floridians?

It’s really about reminding everyone that there is still hope for Florida. I’m looking forward to returning to Tallahassee and proving that even in our state, we can still elect folks who care about people.