You may vaguely recall that about a month ago, another venue backed out of hosting the event in question, citing a misalignment of "values" with Florida's governor. Ron DeSantis was slated to speak to the Jewish Leadership Conference at the Museum of Jewish Heritage, but museum officials decided that the event would not foster a spirit of "inclusivity," so they abruptly decided to effectively DeSantis as a speaker. The leaders of the host organization described what happened in the pages of the Wall Street Journal on May 5th, framing it as an ideological ultimatum:
A few years ago, we helped launch the Jewish Leadership Conference, an annual gathering to consider the challenges facing the Jewish people and Israel. It is hosted by Tikvah, a 20-year old Jewish educational and cultural institution whose main activity in America is teaching young Jews about Jewish history and civilization. We thought it would be interesting to invite Gov. Ron DeSantis to discuss how the “Florida model” has contributed to the growth and vitality of Jewish life in his state. The event was to be held at the Museum of Jewish Heritage in New York City. Until, as the saying goes, we got canceled. Over the years, Tikvah has hosted numerous conferences at the museum, always including prominent Jewish, Israeli and American thinkers and leaders of various political and religious points of view. We were working closely with the museum on the details for the June 12 event—until, out of the blue, we were told by the museum staff that Mr. DeSantis didn’t “align with the museum’s values and its message of inclusivity.” Either we disinvite the governor, they said, or our event was unwelcome.
The piece went on, exposing the decision-makers at the museum to be hypocrites and liars:
In the name of inclusivity, a Jewish museum sent us a clear message: Some people are to be excluded. In the name of fighting hate, the museum decided that the millions of Floridians who support Gov. DeSantis—including many Jews—are so hateful that they don’t even merit a voice in the great American conversation. A museum of tolerance has become intolerant. When pressed for a further explanation of why our event was canceled, the museum’s CEO adopted a common form of doublespeak: We don’t do politics, he told us, whether left or right. Not surprisingly, this was false. In August 2018, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, then a Democratic candidate for Congress, was a featured speaker at an event at the museum, sponsored by the Immigrant Arts Coalition. Her speech was widely covered in the news—both before and after the event—including public criticism of the museum for giving such a vociferous critic of Israel a prominent platform at a Jewish institution. Yet the event went on as planned. The museum has hosted other politicians, including then-Gov. Andrew Cuomo and then-Mayor Bill de Blasio. In April the museum hosted a conversation with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Linda Thomas-Greenfield, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, who recently described America as a society plagued by white supremacy and lauded America’s re-entry into the anti-Israel Human Rights Commission.
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AOC -- who is an ally of the anti-Semitic 'BDS' (boycott, sanction, divest) movement against Israel, and who has enthusiastically befriended with some of the most virulent anti-Semites in Congress -- was a welcome political speaker at this venue. Prior to her remarks at the venue, she wavered on whether Israel has a right to exist at all. Other leftists politicians had also spoken there. But Ron DeSantis, a frequent target of progressive wrath, just couldn't be countenanced. The museum 'doesn't do politics,' you see, except when it does. Writing in the New York Post on May 8th, Florida transplant and former New Yorker Karol Markowicz teed off:
On its Twitter account, [the museum] said this wasn’t a “free speech or censorship issue” but “simply a contractual and logistical decision”... Yes, the museum made the “contractual and logistical decision” to deny rental space to Tikvah, an organization that has hosted many events at the museum, because DeSantis was to be a speaker. It’s not a “free speech or censorship issue” since that implies government is stopping the speech, and that is clearly not happening here...Thinking it’s smarter than everyone else, the museum added a carefully worded tweet saying, “We welcome Governor DeSantis and elected officials from across the spectrum to visit the Museum of Jewish Heritage – A Living Memorial to the Holocaust for a tour of our new exhibition, The Holocaust: What Hate Can Do, when it opens this summer.” So it won’t block the door if DeSantis buys a ticket for a tour, but no one is welcome to host the governor for an event at the museum. Got it.
It wasn't a government censorship issue, but it was a censorship issue. I read about this contretemps at the time, and even asked Markowicz about it on my radio show. I remember wondering how the situation would be resolved. This morning, I got my answer. It appears as though the host organization refused to disinvite DeSantis, instead opting to yank the event out of the museum. It also appears as though the group found a new location for the governor's speech, which is still scheduled for June 12, the original date. And it appears as though elected officials in New York City are now pressuring the new venue to also refuse to host DeSantis:
Plans for @RonDeSantisFL to speak at Chelsea Piers on June 12–the middle of Pride Month–draw outrage from @bradhoylman and fellow LGBTQ lawmakers https://t.co/vl679H3XmP pic.twitter.com/4taMDj1i6d
— Shant Shahrigian (@ShantRS) June 6, 2022
Pride Month in the heart of Chelsea, a birthplace of the modern LGBTQ movement, is no time for Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis to come to the Big Apple, says a group of local lawmakers. State Sen. Brad Hoylman and two fellow LGBTQ Democrats are calling on Chelsea Piers to cancel an event at one of its venues set to feature the conservative firebrand next Sunday. They say his backing of the so-called “Don’t Say Gay” law — which restricts discussion of sexual identity and gender at Florida schools — makes him unworthy to speak in Chelsea during Pride. “It’s outrageous that Chelsea Piers would host an anti-LGBTQ politician like DeSantis in the middle of Pride Month, in the middle of the heart of Chelsea,” Hoylman, who represents the neighborhood, told the Daily News. “To host a homophobic and transphobic public official in this neighborhood in the middle of Pride is insulting and hurtful to our community,” the Democrat added. He noted that Pier Sixty, the West Side waterfront venue that plans to host the Jewish Leadership Conference where DeSantis is scheduled to speak, is just a few blocks from the historic Stonewall Inn in Greenwich Village — the gay bar where a police raid more than 50 years ago sparked rioting that eventually inspired a generation of LGBTQ activists.
This hysterical shrieking from LGBT Democrats should be ignored by Chelsea Piers. These politicians, and associated activists, don't own any neighborhood, nor do they own any month of the year. Plus, any location in Manhattan could be characterized as being "blocks" from Stonewall. So what? Would these shouters be receptive to an event a bit further away, during a different month? Of course not. They're using Pride as a convenient weapon to try to squelch the speech of someone they don't like. DeSantis isn't even coming to New York to speak about issues like the parents rights/LGBT law that sparked the aforementioned museum's decision to refuse to host him. (Incidentally, I'd love to hear -- specifically -- whether the leaders of a museum devoted to Jewish heritage believe that sexual and gender identity should be taught to K-3 students, and why. I have problems with the law, but not on that central controversy). No, the governor will be discussing "how the 'Florida model' has contributed to the growth and vitality of Jewish life in his state." But 'progressive' politicians in New York won't stand for that, and they're explicitly demanding that a private venue cancel a contracted event with a private organization. These are aggressive, government-driven censorship efforts:
Assemblywoman Deborah Glick and Councilman Erik Bottcher, whose districts include Chelsea, also called on Chelsea Piers to cancel the event. “The work of people like Ron DeSantis kills our young people,” stated Bottcher. “Homophobia doesn’t just exist in Florida, however, and it must be fought wherever it rears its bigoted head, including here in Chelsea.” The lawmakers focused their criticism on Chelsea Piers, with Hoylman saying, “They should take responsibility. They’re the landlord.” “Having someone like Ron DeSantis in Chelsea during Pride Month is enraging and insulting to the LGBTQ community and all New Yorkers committed to diversity and safe spaces for all,” stated Glick, the first openly LGBTQ member of the state Legislature.
Democrats' familiar argument that a GOP-backed policy will kill or harm people (especially 'marginalized communities') is as repugnant as it is tired. They say this about everything -- from tax cuts to internet regulations. And as a member of the 'LGBTQ community,' allow me to say that Ms. Glick does not speak for me; I'm neither "enraged" nor "insulted" by the planned event. Some hyper-sensitive, perpetually-outraged grievance-mongers' need for a "safe space" does not trump the rights of others to peaceably gather and freely associate as they see fit, and these government officials' bullying is repulsive. For what it's worth, Chelsea Piers management seems to be standing its ground, releasing a statement reiterating its support for LGBTQ rights, noting that hosting events on their properties is not an endorsement, and declining to directly engage with these lawmakers' demands. They should not cave to these illiberal jackals, no matter what they think of DeSantis.
One final point: Some may try to argue that because DeSantis restricted free speech ("don't say gay!") in Florida, he has no basis for objecting to getting canceled in New York. Tough luck -- you reap what you sow, Ron! This is, of course, nonsense. (1) The Florida law has been absurdly mischaracterized. It does not bar any discussion in schools of gay-related issues, nor does it ban the word gay. It does disallow instruction on sexual and gender identity subjects for five-to-eight-year-olds. I asked the governor about various provisions, including some I took issue with, in an interview this past spring. (2) Elected government officials regularly make prudential judgments about what is appropriate to be taught to minors in government-run schools. That's part of the job. It's fine to have debates over such things, but shaping curricula for public schools is very much in-bounds and normal. (3) As noted above, the planned New York City confab is a private event, hosted by a private organization, which signed a contract with the venue. These circumstances are entirely different in every way from those mentioned in the previous bullet point. It is appropriate for government officials to discuss and determine what government schools can or must teach. It is totally inappropriate for government officials to breathe down the neck of a private company, trying to coerce it into vitiating a private contract with a private organization.
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