‘I felt we’d been erased’: Florida’s official tourism site quietly removes LGBTQ travel page

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. ( WFLA ) — Florida’s official tourism marketing department has quietly removed the LGBTQ travel section from its website.

The site, Visit Florida, previously featured blog posts and videos related to Florida’s gay-friendly beaches, pride events, LGBTQ road trip ideas, and more.

The mobile version of VisitFlorida.com still lists the LGBTQ travel section in a drop-down menu, but once selected, it directs back to the home page.

“From a personal standpoint, and LGBTQ standpoint, I felt we’d been erased,” Rachel Covello said.

Covello is the owner of Outcoast.com, an online travel blog highlighting LGBTQ-friendly activities in Florida. In 2021, she collaborated with Visit Florida on getting content on their site, and she had an opportunity to speak at the Governor’s Convention on Tourism.

Covello, who spoke with Nexstar’s WFLA from St. Petersburg, said she found out the travel page was gone about two weeks ago.

“We’re standing in one of the most LGBTQ inclusive destinations in Florida, if not in the country,” Covello said. “So I think people need to come to Florida and need to support these destinations that are so diverse and doing the right thing. But these destinations rely on our state platforms to market our state as a brand.”

According to Visit Florida’s “About Us” section, Visit Florida is “not a government agency, but rather a not-for-profit corporation created as a public/private partnership by the Florida Legislature.” It’s also described as “the state’s official tourism marketing corporation.”

The site still includes travel recommendations for people with special needs, African American heritage, and Hispanic heritage.

Florida has a history of conflict with the LGBTQ community, with critics pointing to the so-called “Don’t Say Gay” laws, limits on instruction of sexual orientation in public schools, transition-related healthcare, and more.

Lee Manual is the owner of Cocktail Bar and the Mari Jean Hotel in St. Petersburg. He said the travel industry supports a number of jobs in the state.

“Resorts such as ours, we have 54 rooms. We pay bed taxes, or at least our guests pay bed taxes, and those bed taxes go to help fund lot of local projects such as the new Tropicana Field,” Manuel said.

He said what’s happening with the website is concerning.

“It’s such as the earlier bans that they had tried to implement here, they’ve all been struck down by courts that had real effect on our business last year, as we saw a large drop of international travel and tourism and the LGBT community, which I’m sure this is going to have the same effect,” Manuel said.

WFLA sent emails to Visit Florida’s media contact, its CEO Dana Young, and to the Governor’s office, but had not received any responses as of Wednesday.

Covello said people should still visit Florida, but she wants to see the people responsible for the Visit Florida website held accountable.

“When they’re not doing their job, they’re not just failing our community and potential travelers to our community. They’re failing the members that they’re supposed to be supporting and marketing for,” Covello said.

Last week, DeSantis announced what he called the greatest second quarter numbers of tourism in Florida’s history. In a press release touting the news, Dana Young, the president and CEO of Visit Florida, was quoted as saying the state’s “freedom-first policies” were partially responsible for the tourism numbers.

“Florida continues to be the destination of choice for millions of Americans and international visitors alike. Our success shows the results of the Governor’s freedom-first policies, VISIT FLORIDA’s strategic marketing efforts, and the undeniable beauty of Florida,” Young said. “Moving forward, we will continue to leverage our strengths to ensure that Florida remains the top destination for travelers worldwide.”

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