NEW YORK — Ron, be gone!
That was the message Sunday from dozens of LGBTQ rights activists and local elected officials outraged over Chelsea Piers’ decision to host a conservative conference featuring Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.
Amid chants of “Shame!” and calls for a boycott they voiced their fury over Chelsea Piers’ refusal to cancel the event and denounced DeSantis for his support of the so-called “don’t say gay” bill in his home state.
“It is unacceptable that Chelsea Piers has not canceled a speech by the most anti-LGBTQ public official in America,” said state Sen. Brad Hoylman, a Dem who represents the area. “This is a disgrace given the history of the Piers, the proximity to the birthplace of the LGBTQ human rights movement and the fact that we’re in the middle of Pride.”
DeSantis was scheduled to speak at the conference, hosted by the conservative Jewish organization the Tikvah Foundation, on Sunday afternoon.
He’s come under fire from LGBTQ groups and many Democrats since signing the law banning instruction about gender identity and sexual orientation from kindergarten through third grade — “or in a manner that is not age appropriate or developmentally appropriate for students in accordance with state standards” — in March.
Chelsea Piers and Pier Sixty, the West Side gala space hosting the conference, have gone on the defensive since news of the DeSantis event surfaced earlier this month. But they rejected calls to cancel it.
“We could not disagree more strongly with many of Ron DeSantis’ actions in office,” Chelsea Piers said in a Friday statement, promising that Pier Sixty would donate the payment it receives from the Tikvah Foundation to pro-LGBTQ groups.
That wasn’t good enough for protesters who stood behind police barricades amid drizzling rain near the Pier Sixty entrance.
“It’s insulting,” Mike Dunn, a 31-year-old social worker, said of Pier Sixty’s donation plans. “I hope everybody here makes them regret this for years. We are not going away tomorrow.”
“Ron DeSantis is a feckless coward, [a] bootlicker who is actively hurting some of the most vulnerable people in this country,” Dunn added.
Protesters said the “don’t say gay” law has nationwide ramifications.
“This kind of behavior is about violence,” said Assemblywoman Yuh-Line Niou, a Manhattan Democrat. “It is about hurting us. It is about making it so our communities are harmed.”
The campaign for DeSantis, a Republican, did not immediately answer a request for comment. Neither did the Tikvah Foundation.
VIP conference attendees like DeSantis and former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo appeared to avoid the protesters by being driven in black cars to Pier Sixty’s garage.
“I’m furious about what is happening here,” said Joseph Alexiou, 38, a freelance journalist.
DeSantis is “like the worse person for gay people right now in this country and they’re hosting him here,” he added. “Get the hell out of my city.”
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