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Tax Incentive to Cut Gay TV, Film Characters

A proposed tax incentive to attract the film and television industry to Florida would not apply to productions that showcase "nontraditional family values," says the Republican house member sponsoring the jobs stimulus measure.


STEPHEN PRECOURT X390 (FAIR) | ADVOCATE.COM

Stephen Precourt

Films and television shows with gay characters could be ineligible for a “family-friendly” tax credit, part of a $75 million incentive package that Florida house Republicans hope will attract entertainment jobs to their state.

According to thePalm Peach Post, “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.”

When pressed on whether shows with gay characters should get the tax credit, state representative Stephen Precourt, a Republican from Orlando who is sponsoring the bill, said, "That would not be the kind of thing I'd say that we want to invest public dollars in."

Currently, a state law that gives tax credits to “family-friendly” films defines the content as suitable for a 5-year-old, according to the Post: “Smoking, sex, nudity and profane language are prohibited, as are ‘obscene’ productions as defined by the state's sex crime laws.”

“Precourt's proposal would boost the credit from 2% to 5% and expand the list of taboos to include any ‘exhibit or implied act’ of nontraditional family values and gratuitous violence,” reports the Post.

Precourt represents the district that includes Walt Disney World.

The Republican house leadership is prioritizing the bill as a means to advance its agenda of job creation.

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Reader Comments
  • Name: kenn
    Date posted: 3/26/2010 2:13:15 AM
    Hometown: weston

    Comment:

    yes but the thirties and forties gave us some of the bes t gay icons and lines. for you kids out there "jungle red" "i dont think were in kansas anymore" etc while i disafree with this legislation lets see what happens. read your film history lots of gay characters snuck into the great films of our pat even with the hays office.

  • Name: geo
    Date posted: 3/10/2010 8:49:02 AM
    Hometown: san diego

    Comment:

    Typical Republican crap: if you want more of this, sit on your hands this falll. Failing to support Democrats, as rancid as they are, brings us institutionalized bigotry like this. KNOW YOUR ENEMIES!!!!!

  • Name: Dan in Florida
    Date posted: 3/10/2010 12:23:27 AM
    Hometown: Palm Harder

    Comment:

    Don't you realize this bill would help protect Charlie Crist from future productions like "Outrage"? Everyone should see this film!

  • Name: Michael
    Date posted: 3/10/2010 12:09:14 AM
    Hometown: Los Angeles

    Comment:

    Florida is unsafe for most people, but super unfriendly to Gays. Key West is great for 5 minutes and Miami's cool. But the people mostly suck, lotsa uber church monkeys.

  • Name: someone
    Date posted: 3/10/2010 12:04:08 AM
    Hometown: somewhere

    Comment:

    Jim G.: If I may play the devil's advocate, you do realize that restricting political speech by all tax exempt groups would necessarily apply to many nonprofit LGBT organizations as well, right? Let's not be hypocritical. That said, if it were up to me, no church would be tax exempt. As for the proposed legislation, it's absurd. I can understand giving tax breaks to family-friendly kids' movies, but there's already a Florida law for that. Injecting ideologically-loaded partisan rhetoric like "nontraditional family values" (GOP code for "queers") into an otherwise harmless and uncontroversial premise is simply bigotry. This proposed law has nothing to do with taxes or public spending, and everything to do with pandering to Steve Precourt's socially conservative base.

  • Name: Jim Guinnessey
    Date posted: 3/9/2010 2:33:59 PM
    Hometown: West Palm Beach

    Comment:

    Bigotry, fernsinskipbigotry, thy name is BIGOTRY. Once again we see how the Fundamentalist in Florida's GOP push their anti-Gay propaganda to wow their redneck and Luddite constituencies. This time, these half wits are playing with taxpayer money. Bigoted churches, of course, are tax exempt but nonetheless are allowed to lobby and add their narrow-minded two cents to discussions about bills before the Florida House and Senate. My view: TAX EXEMPT, NO VOICE. The GOP puppet pushing for no money for tv or cinema productions in Florida that have a gay character is like many of his buddies in the House and Senate just another hypocrite sniffing around for votes.

  • Name: Spikewebbe
    Date posted: 3/9/2010 2:06:40 PM
    Hometown: Boston, MA

    Comment:

    See if Repuke-licans and conservative ran Hollywood the entertainment industry would be so lame and white; there would be such little diversity. It would be like living in the 1940s again. This tax incentive cut off sounds homophobic as hell.

  • Name: Zachary
    Date posted: 3/9/2010 1:32:19 PM
    Hometown: Atlanta

    Comment:

    When I aim my gaydar machine at Governor Charlie it sure starts to ping. What a gay character he is. I assume this bill is just to appease the right-wingers. I can't imagine this bill would generate much revenue. The Florida legislature should realize that gay tourism is big business in Florida, and alienating gay and lesbian tourists would create only more financial havoc for the state.

  • Name: Thomas
    Date posted: 3/9/2010 1:11:34 PM
    Hometown: FloriDuh

    Comment:

    Re: Bobby Sorry that you disagree; however, the problem with Florida is in fact very much the Republican control of state government. A party that is anti science, anti intellectual and anti gay. Any gay person that votes GOP needs their head examined.

  • Name: Bobby
    Date posted: 3/9/2010 1:03:23 PM
    Hometown: Miami

    Comment:

    The problem with Florida isn't the republicans. The problem is the crowds, South Florida is a crowded traffic congested mess 7 days a week. The cost of real estate and renting is high while the salaries are low because companies think you're living in paradise. This is NOT a paradise, if you have a job here you're not going to show up in flip flops and a bathingsuit unless you happen to be a pool boy, lifeguard or scuba instructor. Northerners are lucky they get to miss work when it snows too much, here we have to drive to work even if it's raining like crazy.



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