‘Say gay’: Billboards appear all over Florida in protest against ‘Don’t say gay’ bill

Billboards encouraging people to “say gay” have cropped up in Tallahassee, Jacksonville and Orlando

Just days after Flordia Gov Ron DeSantis signed the “Don’t Say Gay” bill into law, a flurry of billboards are cropping up across the state with the opposite message of the controversial law: “Say gay”.

The Parental Rights in Education bill, which critics have aptly named the “Don’t Say Gay” bill, prohibits teachers, instructors and anyone in a classroom setting from “instruction ... on sexual orientation or gender identity” in “kindergarten through grade 3 or in a manner that is not age-appropriate or developmentally appropriate”, the bill reads.

Road signs in protest of the Florida governor’s legislation can now be found in major cities like Orlando, Tallahassee and Jacksonville. Spearheading the campaign is the Southern Progress Pac, a group that, by their own explanation on their website, wants donations to “chip in whatever you can to help us … turn the attacks from Ron DeSantis and Florida Republicans upside down on their heads”.

The pac has been approved by billboard vendors and other media advertising vendors (including the tops of cars and trucks) throughout the state.

On the site, the pac explains that they’ve been approved for $300,000 in ad campaigns, which are set to run over the next four weeks.

“[We] exist to speak truth to power and expose the extremist agenda of Republican politicians that seek power for themselves while trampling on the rights of the people they claim to represent,” a statement on Southern Progess Pac’s site reads.​

“We challenge the one-party dominance in states like Arkansas, Georgia, Texas and others where cronyism, corruption, and incompetent lawmaking hurts people, strips them of their right to vote, and does nothing to spur economic growth, grow the middle class, or unite our country.”

A volunteer with the organisation told NBC News that part of what’s motivating the group to get these signs up is that they want to let people, particularly LGBT youth, know that it’s “OK to talk about who you are and where you come from”.

Ally Sammarco, the volunteer with the group, told the news outlet that they’re next destination that they plan to post-up another ‘Say gay’ billboard is Miami.

The bill, signed into law on Monday, comes into effect on 1 July.