For the fourth year running, Florida representatives have introduced bills hoping to ban Pride flags from government buildings and schools. Despite previous bills failing every year before ever receiving a floor vote in the past, Florida politicians are once again pushing anti-LGBTQ+ legislation in the hopes that this time it will be different.This bill is a direct attack on LGBTQ visibility and a textbook example of government overreach and censorship, said the Senior Political Director of Equality Florida, Joe Saunders, in a statement. The Pride flag is a symbol of safety, inclusion, and community for millions of Floridians. [] These bills prevent local cities and counties from using flags to recognize their own communities or make them welcoming to residents and tourists. Related Florida town defiantly flies Pride Flag after mayor warns against it Floridians deserve leaders focused on solving real problems, not weaponizing government to erase LGBTQ people from public life, Saunders added. Weve defeated this bill before, and we will defeat it again.The Florida Pride flag ban is a pre-file for the 2026 legislative session, making it one of the first anti-LGBTQ+ bills for next year. Identical copies of the bill were submitted to both the Florida House (H.B. 347, introduced by State Rep. David Borrero) and Senate (S.B. 426, introduced by State Sen. Clay Yarborough). Never Miss a Beat Subscribe to our newsletter to stay ahead of the latest LGBTQ+ political news and insights. Subscribe to our Newsletter today If passed, the bill would prevent the Pride flag from being flown in or around government buildings, including schools.The specific text of the bill precludes displaying flags which represent political partisanship, political ideology, race, gender, or sexual orientation. That means that Black Lives Matter flags would also be banned.However, allowances are made for flying a flag of historical significance to the government of the United States or this state. While that might allow for the display of older versions of the U.S. flag, it has been noted that it would also allow government buildings and schools to fly the Confederate flag.Introducing another Pride flag ban is on brand for Florida, outside of their three years of failing to pass such a ban. After Trump and his Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy pushed for the removal of rainbow crosswalks across the country earlier this year, Florida was one of the only states to enact their demand. They did so in a shocking fashion, removing the rainbow crosswalk memorial from the site of the Pulse nightclub shooting, and responding to protestors restoring it by painting over it again and installing police officers to watch the road.Theres a sad precedent for a state banning Pride flags, established in Utah back in March, when legislators voted in such a ban, and the governor refused to veto it. Despite being the first state in the U.S. to ban Pride flags, municipal officials in the states capital of Salt Lake City found a workaround by designating variations of LGBTQ+ Pride flags as official city flags so that they could still be flown on local government buildings.Subscribe to theLGBTQ Nation newsletterand be the first to know about the latest headlines shaping LGBTQ+ communities worldwide.