New York Times Takes Gay Deplatformers’ Side Against ‘Abhorrent’ DeSantis Speech in NYC

It New York Times’ hostility toward Florida’s Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis is a possible presidential candidate in 2024. A news article was about the second attempt of the left (literally!) to cancel DeSantis’ speech at the Jewish Conference in New York City.

Liam Stack, Metro Desk religion correspondent, sided with the censors in tone: “DeSantis Event at Chelsea Piers Faces Backlash Over L.G.B.T.Q. Rights.”

For the second time this spring, a New York City institution is facing a backlash over a conservative Jewish conference, long in the planning, because of one of its featured speakers: Gov. Ron DeSantis, Florida.

In May, the Museum of Jewish Heritage backed out of a tentative rental agreement to host the event. Now, Chelsea Piers, a recreation complex with a large event space at its Manhattan location and which hosted the conference on Sunday, is being widely criticized by elected officials and activist groups who say that Mr. DeSantis should not have spoken at a site that has played an important role in New York’s L.G.B.T.Q. history.

Earlier this year, Mr. DeSantis signed legislation that prohibited classroom discussion of gender identity and sexual orientation for some age groups in Florida schools, known by opponents as the “Don’t Say Gay” bill.

Tikvah Fund (a conservative Jewish group) organized the Jewish Leadership Conference. It invited Mr. DeSantis for a speech on the vibrancy and potential of Florida’s Jewish community.

After hearing that DeSantis was going to speak, the Museum of Jewish Heritage decided to pull out.

Stack let insulting adjectives (“abhorrent or dangerous”) hang in the air.

The Recreation Complex is facing protests or boycotts at Sunday’s event. This has put it in the middle of a heated dispute over identity, inclusiveness, religion, free speech, and other issues. It has put Chelsea Piers in an awkward situation that is emblematic of the heated and politically charged national debate about whether those with dangerous or abhorrent views should have a platform.

“The bottom line is Chelsea Piers is providing a venue to propagate hate toward the L.G.B.T.Q. community and that is unacceptable on many levels, including that it is Pride and that it is in Chelsea, the heart of the community,” said State Senator Brad Hoylman, the Manhattan Democrat who represents the area. He helped lead calls for Chelsea Piers to cancel the event….

Chelsea Piers said that it would not cancel the event but would donate the money from the event to “groups that protect L.G.B.T.Q.+ communities.” Of course, that didn’t work: “The decision by Chelsea Piers to donate money to L.G.B.T.Q. groups has not mollified critics….”

Stack glossed over the cancel-culture vibes while warning “Other groups are canceling upcoming events at Chelsea Piers.” It was the New York City Gay Hockey Association. New York City Gay Hockey Association.

Stack wrote a short rebuttal for the campaign and then gave a long line of furious would-be censors the last word. Like his reporting on J.K. Rowling’s “transphobic author” 

Stack’s religion reporting has been shaky. In 2016 he notoriously twisted an objective religion study to mock Christians as “less educated” than practitioners of other religions, though the gap was wholly explained by U.S. policy that favored highly educated immigrants. The bizarre headline: “Christians in U.S. Are Less Educated Than Religious Minorities, Report Says.” Federalist’s John Daniel Davidson wrote: “The primary purpose of its coverage is to convey the idea that Christians in America are uneducated rubes.”