Republican Randy Fine of the Florida House of Representatives might have accidentally outlawed his own wife’s charity event in an attempt to pass anti-LGBTQ legislation. Fine was one of the lawmakers behind HB 1423, also known by the misleading name the “Protection of Children Act,” one of the slew of Republican bills across the country targeting drag shows. The act outlaws broadly-defined “adult live performances” in which children may be present. The bill defines “adult live performances” as “any show, exhibition, or other presentation in front of a live audience” which “simulates nudity, sexual conduct, sexual excitement, specific sexual activities” if that act “Predominantly appeals to a prurient, shameful… interest” and “Is patently offensive to prevailing standards in the adult community” and “Taken as a whole, is without serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value…”
Much of that language is unusual to find in the text of a law, particularly the word “shameful.” But “patently offensive to prevailing standards” can mean just about anything that is outside of the norm. Many have suggested that this could easily be applied to outlawing drag shows, which are an integral part of the LGBTQ community and Pride celebrations. According to The Advocate, in response to this, Rep. Fine gave an inflammatory speech in which he advocated for erasing the LGBTQ community. “If it means ‘erasing a community’ because you have to target children—then, damn right, we ought to do it!” Fine proclaimed in his fiery speech.
As The Space Coast Rocket first reported, Randy Fine’s wife, Wendy Fine, participates in an annual fundraiser for an association called Spring Forward for Autism, and Rep. Fine’s campaign sponsors the event as well. The website for the gala lists Wendy Fine as an event chair, boasts “sultry performances,” and does not specify that the gala doesn’t allow children. In fact, in pictures that the organization has inexplicably not taken down since this controversy started, children can be seen having their picture taken with scantily clad performers, and even dancing as part of the show. By all appearances, the Protection of Children Act should outlaw such an event.
To be clear, nobody here at OFM wants to slut shame Mrs. Fine in any way. I don’t personally care if she dances on stage in any state of undress if it empowers her. But the issue at hand here is the hypocrisy of an act like this not being applied to events that are heteronormative. This is in line with the aforementioned Advocate article which mentioned that Rep. Fine said, in defending his bill, that Hooters restaurants would not be affected by HB 1423.
In fact, when Rep. Fine spoke to Insider about the controversy, he said he had attended the gala “several” times and can’t remember any children being present. “It isn’t an inexpensive ticket and isn’t billed as family-friendly,” he said in defense of the event. But, ultimately, the Republican couldn’t answer the question. “To qualify as an ‘adult live performance’ under the proposed law, an event has to meet many criteria and without knowing exactly what they are doing, I can’t answer your question.” He did add, however, that “whether this law passes or not, I would agree that children should not be invited to an event involving ‘sultry performers.’”
