Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava
Para el Nuevo Herald
The Pivot Conference which brought the tech buzz to Miami last month has abandoned plans to come back bigger in 2023 after Florida’s Republican-controlled legislature this week passed the so-called “Don’t Say Gay” bill banning sexual orientation education before fourth grade.
Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava has launched an effort to save the Pivot 2023 conference, maintaining progressive policies in the Miami area unlike what Tallahassee is producing. She cited the county endorsing community ID cards for undocumented residents and others without state-issued IDs, as well as a symbolic resolution urging state lawmakers to reject the law regulating sexual orientation education.
“Last month, the entire county commission voted against the ‘Don’t Say Gay’ bill,” Levine Cava, a Democrat, said in a nonpartisan post. written in a letter Thursday to Kara Swisher, co-host of Voice Podcast which gave its name to the three-day South Beach event. “I have spent my career advocating for the rights of our LGBTQ+ community. … Put simply: the bill is cruel and ignorant. It has no place in our state and no place in Miami County- Dad.
The letter is the latest example of Levine Cava attacking the legislation, which is backed by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, a Republican.
In response to Levine Cava’s post, DeSantis spokeswoman Christina Pushaw noted the review was misleading. “Please read the bill,” she wrote. “It’s called Parental Rights in Education, it doesn’t mention the word Gay at all or refer to LGBT people at all. It’s about age-appropriate education.
Legislation prohibits teaching about sexual orientation or gender identity before fourth grade and requires that all lessons for older students be age-appropriate. Proponents call it a way to block inappropriate discussion of sexual topics in classrooms, while critics call it homophobic for singled out sexual orientation as a concern.
Levine Cava attended the “Pivot MIA” conference, which declared Miami “the most dynamic and forward-looking city in America.”
One of the speakers at the event was Miami Mayor Francis Suarez, a Republican mentioned as a potential presidential candidate in 2024. He stayed outside of the debate over the “parental rights in education” bill, which DeSantis is supporting as he also prepares for a possible presidential race in two years.
Other speakers included Brian Chesky, CEO of Airbnb, Peggy Johnson, CEO of Magic Leap, and Jason Miller of the White House. to advise to former President Donald Trump.
Swishera gay parent, called the legislation “shameful” in a Tuesday Twitter Post on the conference’s planned abandonment of Miami next year.
“Disgraceful act by the Florida GOP and as a parent of four, that’s not what it means to be one,” she said. “To reiterate, a significantly expanded Pivot event – after an epic event there in February – that was scheduled to take place in Miami in 2023 will no longer be.”
Thursday night, Swisher responded to Levine Cava on Twitter“Thank you for this thoughtful letter – we’ll be in touch to at least talk. Obviously this bill affects me personally too, but we know that Miami-Dade is a wonderful part of Florida focused on the future.
In an email to Pivot MIA attendees on Thursday, Swisher said the event will not be held in Miami in 2023 once DeSantis signs the bill. “We hope you’ll be with us,” Swisher wrote, “and we look forward to seeing you at Pivot next year – wherever that may be.”
This story was originally published March 11, 2022 2:26 p.m.
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