{"id":5023,"date":"2023-05-05T11:32:41","date_gmt":"2023-05-05T15:32:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/firstandpen.com\/staging\/5861\/?p=5023"},"modified":"2023-05-05T11:35:05","modified_gmt":"2023-05-05T15:35:05","slug":"lewis-hamilton-formula-one-blasts-florida-desantis-anti-lgbtq-laws","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/firstandpen.com\/staging\/5861\/lewis-hamilton-formula-one-blasts-florida-desantis-anti-lgbtq-laws\/","title":{"rendered":"Lewis Hamilton Blasts Florida’s Anti-LGBTQ+ Laws"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

F1 star Lewis Hamilton<\/a> 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Well, Hamilton wasn’t having it and wasn’t afraid to let DeSantis and his followers know.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not good at all,\u201d said Hamilton<\/a>. \u201cI stand by those within the community here. I hope they continue to stand firm and push back. I\u2019ll have the rainbow on my helmet. It\u2019s no different to when we were in Saudi.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We wrote about how sports has the power to stand up<\/a> 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not for me to decide something like that,\u201d Hamilton said. \u201cI 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\u2019m 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.”<\/p>

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