FL And TX Govs Agree: No To Gay Wedding Cakes, Yes To COVID Cruises

Culture war now, culture war tomorrow, culture war forever.

Republican officials love small government. Except when they don’t.

Republican officials hate regulation. Except when they don’t.

Republican officials protect the sacred right of businesses to refuse service to customers at will. Except when they don’t.

When it was a question of being able to turn away gay couples in the Masterpiece Cake Shop case, Republicans went to the mat to defend the freedom to be a bigot. But when it comes reopening businesses safely, it’s imperative that the state step in and ensure that all comers are served. Hence the governors of Texas and Florida, two states heavily dependent on tourism, are going to war with the cruise industry over vaccine mandates on ships. Because whoever heard of a floating superspreader event, amirite?

In April, when fewer than one-third of Americans had received their first shot, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis sued the CDC over its refusal to allow cruise ships to pack the lido deck with drunken revelers. And last month he signed a law banning “vaccine passports” and threatening to fine businesses $5,000 for every unvaccinated patron excluded, effectively making it illegal for cruises to demand proof of vaccination at Florida ports.

This set the state on a collision course with the CDC, which is still requiring 95 percent of passengers and crew to be fully vaxxed on all ships. For a minute it looked like the two sides might be able to negotiate a face-saving wheeze, perhaps agreeing that passengers were in international waters when they reached the end of the gangplank and could thus be required to present vaccine cards onboard without running afoul of the law. But so far, the two sides have failed to reach agreement, and the governor is continuing to beat his chest like a warrior standing up to big business.

“We’ve been very clear, the law is clear in Florida,” DeSantis spokesperson Taryn Fenske told reporters in May. “You can’t mandate vaccine passports. We are interested to see how [the CDC] works with them so that they don’t get these exorbitant fines.”

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She failed to explain how DeSantis, Harvard Law class of 2005, would square this with the Supremacy Clause.

Naturally Texas Governor Greg Abbot wasn’t going to get out-culture-warred by DeSantis.

“I’m signing a law today that prohibits any business operating in Texas from requiring vaccine passports or any vaccine information. Texas is open 100% without any restrictions or limitations or requirements,” he tweeted jubilantly.

Never mind that Texas requires proof of vaccination to attend public school, college, and even daycare. And so does Florida. Access to a free and appropriate education is a legal right, but you still have to get jabbed before math class. Meanwhile, DeSantis and Abbott are insisting on the right of every American to strip down to their skivvies and rub up against in each other at the all you can eat floating COVID buffet, whether the buffet owner likes it or not.

But not in a gay way! Because that would be a terrible violation of the business owners’ civil rights.

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Republican governors of Florida and Texas battle with cruise lines over vaccine requirements [CNN]
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis Is Crafting A Cruise Line Exemption For His Vaccine Passport Ban [Forbes]


Elizabeth Dye lives in Baltimore where she writes about law and politics.