FLORIDA CONGRESS: DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION TO BLAME FOR WEAK US MILITARY

Christiana Lilly

The military missed its 2022 recruiting goals by 15,000 soldiers — the worst number since the draft ended in 1973 — and the Florida legislature knows what is to blame.

On May 1, Tallahassee voted to send a memorial to the U.S. Congress, citing the U.S. military’s “overemphasizing and relying on diversity and inclusion” for its drop in world dominance. Introduced by Florida Sen. Jay Collins (R), SM 1382 passed 84-24 in the House and 34-5 in the Senate.

Rep. Tommy Gregory, who is an Air Force veteran, said that in talking to his friends and family in the military, “It’s complaint after complaint of how distracted they are trying to respond to these political ideologies, this overactive political activism inside the military and it’s breaking their morale.” stage:

• “Overemphasizing and relying on diversity and inclusion,” specifically gender, gender identity, race and sexual preference.

• Mandatory and “nonsensical” unconscious bias training for both military and civilian personnel

• Mandatory COVID-19 vaccines and denying almost all religious exemptions

The former Miami Beach socialite and nightclub fixture, who is married to a woman, has gone along with Gov. Ron DeSantis and his legislative toadies nearly every step of the way. After campaigning on less-restrictive abortion restrictions and telling CBS4 he would announce his position on the sixweek ban during floor debate, Besabe walked out and skipped the vote.

Saunders says he, and his district, have seen enough.

“Floridians are facing challenges like we’ve never seen before. The Florida GOP’s legislative supermajorities have ushered in sweeping censorship and have stripped local governments of their power to ensure fair wages, combat climate change, and enact common-sense gun safety measures that keep us and our law enforcement officers safe.”

Saunders is currently Senior Director for Equality Florida, his latest job in a 20-year career in public service. He says Besabe’s voting record, which also includes repealing gun restrictions created after the Parkland shooting and book bans, is out of step with Miami Beach.

“Free states don’t ban books and free states don’t ban communities. We deserve a Florida rich in diversity of thought, people, and experiences.”

He added, “The aircraft doesn’t respond differently because you identify as straight. The sniper’s rifle doesn’t care what your race is. It just cares how proficient you are with the weapon.”

The memorial calls on Congress to stop “such ‘woke’ social engineering and experimentation practices, which are eroding military effectiveness, and to mandate a return to merit-based system for military force development and composition.” The bill says that these policies have led to “those with the necessary warrior ethos currently serving in the United States military are more likely to leave service.”

A memorial is akin to a resolution passed by commissioners in city hall — it is not law, but rather sends a message on behalf of the legislature to a larger governing body and is not subject to veto by the governor. In this case, the memorial is being sent to the U.S. Congress.

The memorial cited four examples of ways the military has lost its prowess on the world

• Mandatory training in the U.S. Air Force Academy to use gender neutral language (an example, saying “parent” or “caregiver” instead of “mother” or “father”)

In opposition to the memorial, Florida Rep. Michele K. Rayner-Goolsby (D) said she feared the memorial was actually politicizing the goal in “making sure that there is a positive climate and culture in the military.”

Florida Rep. Ashley Viola Gantt (D) added that the memorial goes against the lived experiences of underrepresented groups in the military, including her brother, who served in the Marines for two decades. She shared that he was first called the n word during his time in the Marines and was called other racial slurs during his service.

“Does that deter from his love of the Marine Corps and his devotion? No, but it’s a very real lived experience,” she said.

Those in favor of the military repeated that skill level should trump the military’s desire to “check boxes” and that servicemembers don’t care about someone’s race or sexual orientation.

Florida Rep. Jeff Holcomb (R), a Navy veteran, was the last speaker during the debate.

“I just can’t let our military be labeled as racist and discrimination without a response. ISIS, the Taliban and al-Qaeda, those are the folks that discriminate,” he said. “We bombed a building in 2017 like we never usually do. We bombed it because they threw homosexuals off that building. Our terrorist enemies hate homosexuals more than we do. They’re the ones who discriminate.”