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3d ago

DeSantis Excludes LGBTQ+ and Hispanic Communities in 2025 Pulse Tribute

This decision mirrors recent executive directives to roll back diversity, equity, inclusion policies.

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Orlando resident Jakob Strawn reflects on the scene at the Pulse nightclub shooting site in Orlando on the 9th anniversary of the 2016 massacre that killed 49, Thursday, June 12, 2025. (Joe Burbank/Orlando Sentinel)
On June 12, 2018, Gov. Rick Scott and his wife Ann visited the memorial to the 49 shooting victims of the Pulse nightclub where the shootings took place two years ago in Orlando.
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Overview

  • The 2025 Pulse Remembrance Day memorandum omitted any mention of LGBTQ+ or Hispanic communities despite their being the primary targets of the 2016 massacre.
  • Since his first year in office, DeSantis had consistently named those communities in anniversary statements until this unexplained reversal.
  • Survivors and advocates such as Brandon Wolf and state Sen. Carlos Guillermo Smith called the omission an erasure of the lives most affected.
  • U.S. Sen. Rick Scott issued a separate commemoration explicitly honoring LGBTQ+ and Hispanic victims, highlighting the contrast with the governor’s statement.
  • The move aligns with broader efforts under DeSantis and President Trump to remove references to diversity, equity, and inclusion from government communications.