Socialist students protest DeSantis' education tour

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis’ Aug. 21 education rally in Miami was met with opposition from Florida International University (FIU) students, who protested outside the venue as the Governor announced his support for local school board candidates.

The stop was part of the governor’s “Education Agenda Tour,” in which DeSantis traveled the state to back local school board candidates ahead of the Aug. 23 primary.

Student protestors, headed by FIU’s Young Democratic Socialists (YDSA) chapter, accused DeSantis of using the tour to promote “far-right” ideology. 

[RELATED: Socialist students stage ‘die-in’ for ‘gender-affirming’ care for kids]

“Today, Governor DeSantis came to town on his so called ‘education tour’ to promote his far-right agenda of censorship and repression. Our chapter attended a protest outside the event to let him know he’s not welcome in our city,” YDSA tweeted the day of the event.

Today, Governor DeSantis came to town on his so called “education tour” to promote his far-right agenda of censorship and repression.

Our chapter attended a protest outside the event to let him know he’s not welcome in our city. pic.twitter.com/n4lYIDvWEj

— YDSA @ FIU🌹 (@YDSAFIU) August 21, 2022

The YDSA chapter released videos of the protest in a Twitter thread, including a video of their president, Jacob Alexander, giving a speech.

“Our President @YacobAlexander gave an exciting speech, making the argument that we can’t rely on legal challenges or electing Dems to fight DeSantis;  we need a mass movement in the street,” YDSA wrote.

Our President @YacobAlexander gave an exciting speech, making the argument that we can’t rely on legal challenges or electing Dems to fight DeSantis; we need a mass movement in the street (1/2).

We call out the refusal of the Tampa city council to protect abortion @TampaDSA pic.twitter.com/FHM4ZAwDr0

— YDSA @ FIU🌹 (@YDSAFIU) August 21, 2022

[RELATED: WATCH: Pro-abortion leftists protest conservative students]

In addition to advocating for abortion rights in his speech, Alexander argued that children deserve access to body-altering procedures to “affirm” their gender identities, saying, “This is the other side of the far-right attack on bodily autonomy, from the ‘Don’t Say Gay Bill’ to the attempts to ban gender-affirming healthcare for trans children.”

“These are unavoidably fascist laws from a fascist governor and any authority that claims to support the rights and dignity of LGBTQ people must necessarily refuse to enforce them—including the mayor, the prosecutors, and city council,” Alexander continued.

Despite pushback from socialist students, the tour continued to announce support for school board candidates who back the “DeSantis Education Agenda,” which includes rejecting COVID-19 lockdowns, keeping woke gender ideology out of schools, and guaranteeing parents’ rights in curriculum transparency. 

Every university, organization, and individual mentioned has been contacted for comment by Campus Reform. This article will be updated accordingly.