The lengths to which the anti-gay forces will go are really stunning sometimes. In Florida, a tax credit for the entertainment industry will be forbidden if the movie or t.v. show has gay characters:
Florida lawmakers are considering a “family friendly” bill that would deny tax credits to films and television shows with gay characters in favour of those promoting traditional values.The proposal, which has fuelled a heated controversy for its discriminatory nature, would increase current tax credits from two to five percent of productions costs for shows considered “family friendly.”
Those productions are defined as films or TV shows with a “cross-generational appeal” that includes a “responsible resolution of issues.” Smoking, profanity, nudity and sex are also out, along with what the state’s sex crime laws define as “obscene.”
The little-known provision was slipped into a 75-million-dollar incentive package that Republican leaders who hold the majority in the state House of Representatives hope will bring more entertainment industry jobs to Florida.
That’s how Florida intends to bring more jobs? With anti-gay legislation? Um, do any of the anti-gay leaders in the Florida legislature know anyone in the entertainment industry?
Maybe Anita Bryant should head the Florida entertainment commission. It’s feeling like the 70s again. And, one does wonder what the recently married (to a woman) Governor of Florida, Charlie Crist, thinks about this legislation.
Here’s the original report from the Palm Beach Post:
Movies and TV shows with gay characters could be ineligible for a “family-friendly” tax credit in Florida under a little-noticed provision tucked into a $75 million incentive package that Republican House leaders hope will attract film and entertainment jobs to the state.The bill would prohibit productions with “nontraditional family values” from receiving a so-called family-friendly tax credit. But it doesn’t define what “nontraditional family values” are, something the bill’s sponsor had a hard time doing, too.
“Think of it as like Mayberry,” state Rep. Stephen Precourt, R-Orlando, said, referring to The Andy Griffith Show. “That’s when I grew up — the ’60s. That’s what life was like. I want Florida to be known for making those kinds of movies: Disney movies for kids and all that stuff. Like it used to be, you know?”
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