Brevard families leaving Florida: Why they say Sunshine State no longer feels like home

[marmar]

(Florida Today) Eli Logan lived the first 46 years of her life in her native Florida. She probably, she said, would have "stayed 46 more."

But between the state's politics pushing hard to the right and a slew of new laws affecting Florida's LGBTQ+ community, schools and more, she's joined the ranks of those leaving Florida for places they find safer for themselves and their families.

Logan, her husband and their three daughters recently left Brevard for an area of Georgia that's a splash of political blue northeast of Atlanta. It's a place this nurse practitioner sees as a "better, healthier place" to raise the couple's children, the oldest of whom identifies as gay.

She's not alone. When Logan announced her family's move on Facebook, well wishes were punctuated with messages like "We can’t stay either. It’s not safe and it’s not headed in a healthy direction." Over the past few weeks, other goodbyes have popped up across social media, like that of Stacey and Sanjay Patel, staples of the Brevard County Democratic Party for several years. And Wendy Johnson, who explained in an impassioned Facebook post why she, her husband and their daughter would soon be moving to New York. ........................(more)

https://www.floridatoday.com/story/news/2023/05/31/families-leave-florida-desantis-laws-lgbtq-transgender-rights-immigration/70215225007/

[TeamProg]

1. Brain drain. nt

[brer cat]

2. Yes. FL will be paying for DeSatan for a long time.

Enrollment in higher ed will drop off too.

[RKP5637]

8. Many students want nothing to do with Florida as they watch what is going on. Students don't

want to be in a sea of hatred. And they don't want to be dictated to by the Florida government as to what studies are available. More and more Florida is the epicenter for Idiocracy. I have advanced education and there is absolutely no way I want to remain in Idiocracy.

[jimfields33]

15. Fall enrollment will tell the facts.

If the Florida State and university of Florida’s enrollment is down, somethings up. If not then it’s anecdotal.

[RKP5637]

17. Yes! n/t

[Fiendish Thingy]

21. It might take another year to see the impact

Many high school seniors get early acceptance/enrolment letters in the winter of their senior year, so the full fallout of DeSantis’ anti-woke crackdown may not be seen until fall of 2024

[yonder]

24. Agree. Its a big ship.

[cab67]

22. the real tell...

...will be with out-of-state applications or admissions.

The drop in Florida-based applicants won't drop so much because students from Florida get in-state tuition. They may not want (or cannot afford) to pay higher tuition in other states.

Public universities usually do everything they can to attract out-of-state and international applicants because they pay more tuition. But if these students would rather spend their tuition dollars where education gets more respect, there won't be much these universities can do about it until the governor of Florida is gone and the state's legislature begins to repair some of the damage.

[calimary]

28. I don't blame them one bit.

I wouldn’t want to live in Florida either, under the current tyrannical and cruelly judgmental regime.

ICK.

[RKP5637]

34. I am so F'en sorry I ever moved here, but I'm almost gone. I'm not going to put up with

this bullshit. Florida isn't that special IMO. This has been my second home for years, but no more. And I would never send my kids here for school. There are far too many other choices.

[calimary]

43. It's such a shame that you've been forced to feel that way

We should all have at least some fond feelings about where we’ve been, especially as you describe: “a second home for years.” That’s the ideal, I suppose. But we can’t always get what we want. In that case, maybe we pack up and move.

[RKP5637]

45. I feel a negative energy here now which gives me a lot of trepidation. I don't think

it's going away very soon. I'll head back up to New England, it will be a lot better. Thanks for listening!

[calimary]

52. Well, that's part of the beauty of this little clubhouse.

It’s always been a terrific sounding board, at least in my own experience. You can raise trial balloons on ideas and strategy & tactics - on everything from politics to how to deal with an uncooperative individual or circumstance in your own life. The expertise here is often REALLY impressive. And at its most basic, it validates you and reminds you that you’re not just slogging through a problem alone.

And, full disclosure, I don’t get (or expect to get) any benefit from promoting this place outside of the satisfaction of sharing something good.

[RKP5637]

53. Yep!

[pandr32]

12. There should be signs made.

Was once a bustling purple state. Now destroyed and deserted.

[Poiuyt]

3. Unfortunately, if the Democrats leave the state, there'll be no one to fight the fascists.

[Initech]

5. Yeah I know, that's a huge dilemma.

[RKP5637]

35. For those that can leave, I don't blame them. These are laws this jerk has created, of course, not

executive orders. This guy could be governor until 2027 in Florida. None challenge this guy, it's GOP pretty much all the way ... and when the legislative session begins again god knows what they will come up with. It's also getting flooded with MAGA types and extremely wealthy people. And the state is being overrun with developments. And some are damn tacky. I'm getting out. Life is too short. I am no expert here, but some have said it might be 10, 20 years or more before this could be corrected. And since they are laws, the whole process would have to be done again to rid Florida of these laws, and these idiotic laws are beyond stupid.

[Aviation Pro]

14. If Florida Democrats abandon the state

And move just north of the border to GA, AL, SC, NC, etc. Then it will have a profound political effect on those states and will turn them Blue. Conversely, if Florida loses the population they gained through emigration and death (The Villages), it will revert to an electoral college light weight.

Win-win.

[calimary]

29. Good argument. MOST interesting, not to mention logical.

[jaxexpat]

18. I'd like to see as much passion for staying and changing.....

the demographics here as there is for leaving the state in spite and protest.

[Arazi]

32. You think LGBTQ are leaving because of "spite and protest"?!

Seriously?!

[onecaliberal]

26. I hear you, but as a parent, I wouldn't live there with my gay/trans children.

[RKP5637]

4. Florida has turned into such an ugly place for all kinds of people. Still working on

our move, there is just too much hatred in Florida. And these are laws not executive orders. God knows how long it will take Florida to get back to some better days. What a shame.

[Zambero]

6. You and others in Florida deserve much better

My state of Idaho has taken a similar turn, from bad to worse.

[RKP5637]

9. It's incredible, a total WTF. And the GOP thinks this will secure for them the 2024 election.

[Freethinker65]

7. Wealthy conservatives, and other wealthy wanting to save on taxes post retirement, flock to Florida

While professionals/middle class families (you know, those business, service, and medical employees that the wealthy conservatives depend on for their convenience and standard of living) elect to move out to raise their families.

[TheBlackAdder]

11. Yeah, and when shit happens they have their socialist collection plate out for Blue State money.

[jimfields33]

16. That's true. huge numbers of wealthy New Yorkers are moving to Florida

The only problem is new York’s revenue is down. Nothing is easy.

[yardwork]

10. Florida has always been a place strongly identified with itinerancy.

Snowbirds with their winter homes, retirees seeking year-round sunshine, immigrants from the Caribbean and South America, migrant workers, writers, the mob, drug dealers, and so on. People living on houseboats. People hanging out in the Keys. Spring training. Spring break. Disney.

If Florida loses its appeal as a place of refuge for the quirky, the wanderers, the seekers, then it will lose a huge part of its economic foundation. There's very little industry in Florida beyond tourism.

It's easy for people to move back out of a place they moved to. If it's no fun anymore, they won't stay.

DeSantis is destroying his state's economy.

[RKP5637]

36. There is definitely no fun anymore, it's been replaced with stress and hatred. Vacationers and

others will eventually get what is going on. I've read where some tourists that fly in are going to Disney, for example in CA, rather then FL.

[yardwork]

39. I'm so sorry, and I recognize this could happen anywhere.

It's happening, more incrementally, in North Carolina. I'm not going to point fingers. In many ways, it's surprising to me that Florida, of all states, would do this.

None of us are safe.

[RKP5637]

41. Yep, it's amazing. Florida is supposed to be a vacation land, fun in the sun and

all of that, lots of tourists and all sorts of people having fun. With all of the hostilities this guy DeSantis has created, for many that is fading away. In short, today I view Florida as an unequivocal mess.

[MOMFUDSKI]

13. The rethugs

want their workers to be straight, white, and christian. Good luck getting your garbage picked up and your toilet fixed.

[aggiesal]

19. Wonder what would happen if scholarship athletes decided ...

not to attend Miami, Florida & Florida St. and other universities throughout the state?
Hmm 🤔

[CaptainTruth]

20. So we're telling Republicans that if they impose draconian policies...

...the more draconian & offensive the better, Democrats will give up & run away? Democrats have no faith that these policies will be struck down by the courts as unconstitutional? Democrats aren't willing to stand & fight for what is right? We'll just cut & run & give Republicans exactly what they want, another bright red state?

That's only encouraging more DeFascist-like behavior, because they'll see that it WORKS. It gives them what they want.

Folks, talk me off the ledge or flame me if you must, but that doesn't feel like "winning" & it seems like a bad strategy if we want to keep America out of the hands of people like Ron DeFascist.

[Demobrat]

25. If staying and fighting means sacrificing their children

to the hate, I sure don’t blame anyone for upping and leaving.

[ShazzieB]

31. Same here.

Staying and fighting sounds very idealistic, even noble. But it is highly unsafe in Florida for certain kinds of people. I don't blame anyone for leaving to save their own skin, much less that of their children.

Personal safety issues aside, there is also the question of education. Unless you can afford private school tuition or are in a position to homeschool, parents and kids are pretty much at the mercy of the public education system, which is rapidly turning into garbage in Florida. That is an equally valid reason to leave.

I applaud anyone who is willing to stand and fight in Florida, but I also don't blame anyone for getting the hell out.

[llmart]

44. About six months ago, I overheard a conversation waiting in the checkout line at the grocery store.

Female cashier, about 40 something, was talking to a customer she was waiting on about having moved to Michigan from Florida. I believe the customer who was a much older woman asked her why she'd leave a state with nice winters to come to Michigan and the cashier replied, "I have elementary aged children and you have no idea how awful the public school system is in Florida." I never forgot that.

When you have children, you want the best educational opportunities for their formative years, and if that means moving from a place you've always lived, well, then you should.

Also, I resent senior citizens who are retired (I'm one, but not that sort of person) and don't feel they should pay taxes for good schools and libraries just because their children are grown. As a very young mother, I was proud to pay taxes to support programs for the elderly and now as a senior I have no problem paying taxes for the next generation.

[Demobrat]

46. I don't have children.

I have paid taxes to pay for schools for other people’s kids all my life. Fine with me. I want those kids to grow up, get good jobs, and start paying for my social security.

Not working fast food jobs, selling drugs on street corners or coming through my windows.

[llmart]

47. +1

Exactly!

[obamanut2012]

48. Same

[RKP5637]

37. For many life is too short and it can be dangerous, and Florida is shifting from the fun paradise it

once was.

[obamanut2012]

38. I'm LGBT+ and work in higher ed

You better fucking believe my wife and I left the state for CA -- better jobs, better climate, better government.

People told the Jews the same thing. Why do you think that is winning advice now? I left Fl in 1936 Germany, where I could leave with my money, my possessions, my pets, and my wife. It si so much worse now than when I left a few months ago.

[yardwork]

40. Where do you live? Do you enjoy it?

Why should anybody stay in a place where they or their family is not safe? And make no mistake, these laws make targeted people - including any woman of child-bearing age - unsafe.

If more Democrats move to North Carolina, Georgia, Colorado, that's a big gain for us.

[obamanut2012]

49. Yup

NC was actually potentially on the list, as was VA, but CA had a sweeter job offer.

[Torchlight]

42. I don't think we're telling Republicans that at all.

I think the individuals who are being being made into social pariahs, the citizens with little support structures around them, the neighbors in marginalized communities who are being targeted by hatred and violence are telling the Republicans that.

I'm not going to shame anyone into remaining in a place they feel neither safe nor happy, I think if I tried to do that, the shame ironically, would be mine.

[obamanut2012]

50. Thank you

[ecstatic]

55. I understand your point, but they have a gay daughter

in a state where you "can't say gay" at school, among other things. At the end of the day, they have to protect their family. Period. People are claiming they will stay and fight for Florida and I really hope they do, because it's such a beautiful place. I don't like the thought of ceding a state to rethugs.... but right now, it's looking bad. What TF happened last fall? I'm still confused and disgusted. Winning Miami Dade?! 19 point victory in the state? Wtff? Make it make sense.

[IronLionZion]

23. Maybe other states will get bluer, like Georgia

since Florida has been like an insect trap for MAGA/DeSantis types

[Raftergirl]

27. I'd leave too if I lived there. No normal person wants to live in a real world Handmaid's Tale.

[SYFROYH]

33. Happy to have another couple of blue votes in GA

But it's a shame that FL will become redder with this type of migration.

We only lost FL by 3.4% in the 2020 GE and less than that in 2016.

[Wednesdays]

51. The GOP: "So, then our plan is working!"

[ecstatic]

54. Good for them.

I just can't imagine sending a gay child to a k-12 school in Florida. It's one thing to ignore defascist's bullshit as an adult, but children are helpless. The teen years are stressful enough without being the target of bigoted, hateful laws. It's worth it to move, maybe even mandatory if a child is involved. Hopefully allies remaining in the state can get it together and get d out.

[EX500rider]

56. Don't know about Ga. being "safer" or "Bluer"

Georgia, ranked 12th in homicides
Fla, ranked 27th

Georgia: the Republican Party controls the offices of governor, secretary of state, attorney general, and both chambers of the state legislature.

But don't let facts get in your way.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_U.S._states_and_territories_by_intentional_homicide_rate