Anti-LGBTQ Florida State Rep Files To Replace Gaetz

Florida Politics reports:

State Rep. Joel Rudman will run for Congress in former U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz’s open seat. The Navarre Republican counts himself as a close ally of Gaetz, who has represented Florida’s 1st Congressional District since his election in 2016.

Rudman first ran for office when his positions on COVID prompted people to challenge his medical license.

In the Legislature, he passed a “medical freedom” law that he said now combines “the rights of medical conscience with the rights of physicians’ freedom of speech.” Rudman has also testified on gun rights at a field hearing hosted by Gaetz in the Panhandle.

Read the full article. Rudman, a medical doctor, first appeared here in April 2023 for his above-cited bill allowing doctors to refuse to treat LGBTQ patients and others on the grounds of “conscience-based objections.” DeSantis signed his bill into law in May 2023.

He appeared here in December 2023 for his bill that would end the three day waiting period to buy handguns.

In February 2024, we heard from Rudman when he introduced a bill that would ban venues from canceling artists over inflammatory posts made on social media.