Free Republic

Governor Ron DeSantis of Florida has given the public some clarity on his veto last week of $32 million in arts and culture grants from next year’s state budget. According to a story published in the Tampa Bay Times, DeSantis said the cause was Orlando International Fringe Theater Festival, which he characterized as being overtly “sexual” and therefore an inappropriate recipient of state funds. While it’s unclear if the Orlando festival was slated to receive any money from the grants, the state of Florida awards money for cultural projects based on a ranked list. The Fringe Festival was ranked toward...

Watching movies from the 1940s is like being transported into a different world. Men wear suits, and women wear beautiful skirts or dresses. No obscenity or vulgarity corrupts the scene. Male characters are manly, while female characters are feminine — both for good and for ill. Few people of loose morals earn the glitzy lights. Traditional family life, with male providers and ladies minding the home, is normative. Think “It’s a Wonderful Life.”Then everything changed.Joy Pullmann, executive editor of these pages, meticulously catalogues episodes of this revolution in her new book, False Flag: Why Queer Politics Mean the End of...