Gov. Ron DeSantis stopped by a rain-soaked Pulse nightclub Wednesday, assuring local leaders and state lawmakers he’d sign off on the $500,000 budgeted for a permanent memorial at the site while also meeting with a survivor of the attack.
After perusing the rainbow wall emblazoned with photos of the 49 who were killed in the gunfire, DeSantis and survivor Brandon Wolf shook hands.
“It means a lot for you to be here, maybe more than you know,” Wolf said to DeSantis. “This community feels like we need allies and feels like we need to be heard. I really hope that this is a moment to start building that relationship.”
The visit marked the end of a whirlwind 24-hours for the governor, who initially didn’t mention the LGBTQ and Hispanic communities in a proclamation Tuesday ordering flags at half-staff to commemorate the shooting’s third anniversary. That drew ire from Democratic lawmaker Anna Eskamani, D-Orlando, who called for an apology.
By Wednesday afternoon, DeSantis’ office issued a new proclamation, acknowledging that Florida “will not tolerate hatred towards the LGBTQ and Hispanic Communities,” and blamed it on a staff error.
DeSantis said “we fixed everything” as reporters asked him about the proclamation, though he didn’t take any more questions as he was ushered into his vehicle.
Eskamani said she hoped the visit to Pulse would spur conversation on policies offering protections from discrimination to the LGBTQ community. An anti-discrimination proclamation DeSantis inked in January omitted the community.
Wolf, whose friend Christopher “Drew” Leinonen was killed in the attack, said he was surprised by his conversation with DeSantis.
“This community has suffered for three years and often hasn’t felt heard,” he said.
Rep. Carlos Guillermo Smith, D-Orlando, the state’s first openly gay Latino lawmaker, handed the governor and his wife Casey rainbow Pulse ribbons, telling him “Our community wants to have a strong relationship with our governor.”
DeSantis assured Smith and Eskamani that the $500,000 funding for the permanent memorial would be approved by his office and acknowledged “I know we’ve got to do a lot more and we’ll get it done.”
That left Smith hopeful, he said.
“If Gov. DeSantis is going to have a legacy on LGBTQ rights, it started just right now. It started here,” Smith said. “Having the governor hear about the experiences of survivors and families, and what they went through … these are the types of authentic experiences that the governor needs to have if he’s ever going to evolve on our issues.”
When he arrived at the memorial just after 5 p.m. Wednesday, he was greeted by Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings, Sheriff John Mina and club owner Barbara Poma.
He walked the perimeter of the club stopping to pay his respects at various photos and flowers left in memory of the victims.
Upon arrival, he scribbled a message on the large sign facing Orange Avenue: “Florida will always remember these precious lives.”
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