F1 star Lewis Hamilton has spoken out on social issues before, so it’s no surprise that did so again in Florida before this weekend’s Formula One Miami Grand Prix.
Under governor Ron DeSantis, Florida has quickly stripped abortion rights, dismantled educational freedom, and is attempting to eradicate Black history and culture and the LGBTQ+ community, that latter through the now infamous “Don’t Say Gay” bill.
Well, Hamilton wasn’t having it and wasn’t afraid to let DeSantis and his followers know.
“It’s not good at all,” said Hamilton. “I stand by those within the community here. I hope they continue to stand firm and push back. I’ll have the rainbow on my helmet. It’s no different to when we were in Saudi.”
Hamilton referenced the oppression he witnessed in Saudi Arabia, which is now being duplicated across Republican-led states in America. The leader of the movement is DeSantis, and he’s being closely followed by states such as Texas, Tennessee and North Carolina.
We wrote about how sports has the power to stand up to this Republican fascist movement that’s sweeping across the country and how F1 could pull out of the U.S. races in Florida, Texas and Nevada in support of freedom.
While Hamilton didn’t go that far, he was willing to lend his voice to support human rights causes as he has done in the past.
“It’s not for me to decide something like that,” Hamilton said. “I did hear and have read about some of the decisions that have been made in government here and I do not agree with it and I do not support it. I really do continue to stand with the LGBTQ community and I’m wearing a rainbow flag on my helmet this weekend and I just really want to continue to support the community here and let them know I stand with them and I hope they continue to fight against it.”
Hamilton understands not only the gravity of the situation but who the driving force of the discrimination and hate really is.
“It’s not the people of Miami that are making these decisions, it’s the people in government and that’s the issue,” he added. “I think, hopefully, all I can do – the sport is going to be here whether I am or not – but the least I can do is just continue to be supportive and just being here and having that on my helmet, hopefully that speaks well to the subject.”
Now if only other athletes and leagues would enter the fight against what’s going on in these states, maybe real change would come.
