Gov. Charlie Christ Should Stop The Madness And Oppose This Jobs-Killing Bil
Truth Wins Out condemned a shortsighted and terribly misguided Florida bill that aims to reward movie studios with tax breaks that promote “family values’ and punish those that do not fit the narrow definition of “traditional families”. The bill’ sponsor, Representative Stephen L. Precourt (R-Orlando), told The Palm Beach Post that he wanted to encourage filmmaking akin to “The Andy Griffith Show”.
Truth Wins Out’ Wins Out’ Executive Director, Wayne Besen, released the following statement in response to the proposed legislation:
As a Florida native, this ill-conceived bill appalls me. We basically have a bunch of holy-rolling prudes and scolds trying to harm the Florida economy and undermine the state’ movie industry by pushing their backward version of morality down the throats of all Floridians. Instead of focusing on job creation, these blue nosed values vultures are opportunistically hijacking the jobs bill to push their religious agenda.
The 1950′ are over and these fundamentalists are stuck in the past. Attempting to remake Florida’ movie industry in the mold of a bygone era is shortsighted and terribly misguided. It will place the state’ entire movie industry in harm’ way and send a terrible signal to the moguls in Hollywood. If Florida Republicans insist on thumping the Bible and thumbing their noses at the movie industry, the studios will find new beaches on which to film — at the expense of jobs for Floridians. I seriously doubt that the churches behind this fiasco will pick up the slack and employ all the unemployed actors once the state’ movie industry is crippled.
But, I guess that is what happens when the public elects political fundamentalists whose selfish, Dark Age agenda trumps real issues. As long as Florida voters send such cavemen to Tallahassee, they should know exactly what to expect.
We urge Florida Gov. Charlie Christ to swiftly reject this absurd bill and speak out against such extremism.
If the bill passes, good luck with the Andy Griffith movies, Florida. I’m sure they’ll be splendid, compete with contemporary movies and win numerous Academy Awards. And, I hope the Florida legislature takes the next logical step and bans color from the movies! If we are going to live in the past, why not do it right?
According to The New York Times, the new bill would increase all the incentives, creating a minimum tax credit of 20 percent for eligible productions with a budget of $625,000 or more. The family friendly bonus would go up to 5 percent, but the program would still be optional. Right now the bonus can go only to movies suitable for a 5-year-old, with “cross-generational appeal” and “a responsible resolution of issues.”
Truth Wins Out is a non-profit organization that defends the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community against anti-gay misinformation campaigns, counters the so-called “ex-gay” industry and educates about the lives of LGBT people. Our goal is to help individuals be true to themselves and lead genuine lives of honesty and integrity.
