ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (WFLA) — Florida’s official tourism site quietly removed the LGBTQ travel section from it’s website.
Visit Florida previously featured blog posts and videos related to Florida’s gay-friendly beaches, pride events, LGBTQ road trip ideas, and more.
On the mobile version of visitflorida.com, LGBTQ travel is visible in the drop down menu, but once selected, it directs back to the home page.
“From a personal standpoint, and LGBTQ standpoint, I felt we’d been erased,” Rachel Covello said.
Covello is the owner of Outcoast.com, an online travel blog featuring LGBTQ things to do in Florida. In 2021 she collaborated with Visit Florida on getting content on their site, and she had an opportunity to speak at the Governor’s Convention on Tourism. She lives in St. Petersburg, and found out the travel page was gone about two weeks ago.
“We’re standing in one of the most LGBTQ inclusive destinations in Florida, if not in the country,” Covello said. “So I think people need to come to Florida and need to support these destinations that are so diverse and doing the right thing. But these destinations rely on our state platforms to market our state as a brand.”