This year’s Art Basel Miami brings queer openness and potential to Florida, despite the best efforts of those who govern the state to do the exact opposite. In 2022, Florida became an epicenter of anti-LGBTQ+ hate legislation, with Governor Ron DeSantis and his Republican allies infamously passing a “Don’t Say Gay” law, virtually erasing LGBTQ+ identities throughout the state’s K-12 educational system. DeSantis also recently made it illegal to give transgender youth lifesaving gender-affirming medical care, and blocked trans people of any age from accessing such medical care via state health insurance.
Against this climate of state-sponsored hatred toward LGBTQ+ individuals, Art Basel Miami flaunts a vibrant, diverse group of queer artists. Envisioning alternatives to dominant ideas about religion, relationships, capitalism and gender, these artists embrace their personal stories and their queerness to fuel innovation.
