Florida Democratic stronghold rejects Stonewall Museum’s funding request

Broward County, Florida, is a Democratic stronghold. But that political identity has not protected one of its LGBTQ+ institutions from losing county support.The county has rejected an application for a fiscal year 2027 operating grant from the Stonewall National Museum, Archives & Library in Fort Lauderdale, according to the museum, prompting its president and CEO to challenge local officials to defend organizations threatened by Florida’s restrictions on diversity, equity, and inclusion.According to a news release from Robert Kesten, the museum’s president and CEO and a 2025 Out100 honoree, the museum learned of the rejection on Thursday. Kesten said the notification arrived just two hours after he issued an appeal in Stonewall’s newsletter to government officials. He urgently pleaded with them to stand up to pressure from Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and the Republican-led Legislature.Related: Stonewall Museum revokes membership after Visit Florida kills LGBTQ+ marketing effortThe denial comes ahead of a Florida law that takes effect January 1 and prohibits counties and municipalities from funding or promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives. DeSantis signed the measure in April.The county’s Cultural Division communicated the rejection, WLRN reported. The station also reported that commissioners budgeted approximately the same overall amount for cultural grants as in the previous fiscal year.“As this calendar year comes to an end and before the draconian ‘Anti-DEI’ legislation goes into effect, we call upon every level of government to reinstate funding to every group and organization whose work and quality has earned support from the governments who are required (justly) by law to serve and meet the needs of the people,” Kesten wrote in a statement titled “We Are Citizens First.”Related: The 20+ best LGBTQ+ historic sites and artifacts to add to your bucket list“We call on these officials to do their job as instructed by the Consti