Staff Reports
Equality Florida, the state’s LGBTQ-advocacy organization, Wednesday called for Republican Frank Artiles “to resign … or be removed” from the state Senate.
“Once again, Frank Artiles’ bigotry is all over the news, this time because of racist, sexist, and homophobic slurs used against his Senate colleagues and lobbyists in Tallahassee earlier this week,” Public Policy Director Hannah Willard said in a statement.
“We call on Senate Leadership to demonstrate an authentic and unmistakable commitment to upholding a standard of basic decency by removing Artiles from office,” she added.
The release mentioned that in 2014, Artiles was caught on tape “using the slur ‘hajis’ for Middle Easterners or Muslims.”
The following year, “he introduced a deeply discriminatory (bathroom) bill that targeted transgender Floridians … and he released a campaign ad that described Black Lives Matter as a terrorist organization.”
“His hateful personal views have infiltrated his public service and he cannot be allowed to remain in office,” Willard said.
