Anti-Gay Texts Attack Gay Florida US House Candidate, Falsely Claim He Has HIV, Was Rejected By Blood Drive

Florida Politics reports:

Less than two hours after flagging a homophobic text targeting Sen. Shevrin Jones in Florida’s 24th Congressional District, Florida Politics received a screengrab of a related message with a likely identical, but currently unknown, source.

The first text falsely claimed Jones has HIV and was turned away from a blood donation drive in 2020 because of it. It carried the disclaimer, “Paid for By Equality Florida,” falsely identifying the LGBTQ advocacy group — which last week endorsed Jones, Florida’s first openly gay Black lawmaker — as its funder.

But there’s at least one more text being sent to CD 24 voters that references Jones’ sexuality and that of his Primary opponent, Kendrick Meek Jr., and it carries an eerily similar disclaimer. “Two openly gay men are the frontrunners to replace Frederica Wilson in Congress. Shevrin Jones and Kendrick Meek, both openly gay, are battling to replace Wilson in Congress,” the text says. “We have come such a long way. Get out and support one of our openly gay Candidates.”

The Advocate reports:  

What happens in Florida’s congressional primaries next week could lead to the Sunshine State electing its first out member of Congress. Three Democrats and one Republican all appear to be in strong positions to make history, though none has an easy road ahead.

Democrat Elijah Manley, a gay, Black and Jewish Gen Zer, faces two veteran U.S. representatives in a high-profile Democratic primary. Shevrin Jones, Florida’s first out gay state senator, and Kendrick Meek Jr., an out politician whose father and grandmother both represented South Florida in Congress, face each other in a heated Democratic primary.

Self-described MAGA Republican Keith Gross has been the top fundraiser and has led some polls in a large GOP field in the conservative Florida Panhandle.

Florida Politics reports that the second text claims it was paid for by “Equity Florida” – which does not exist and is likely a typo for Equality Florida, which says below that it is seeking legal action.

Shevrin Jones last appeared here when Republicans shot down his bill to stop Trump for profiting from licensing at the now-former Palm Beach Airport.

Inbox: LGBTQ org @EqualityFlorida is condemning an attack text linking to a 2020 report about CD 24 candidate @ShevrinJones being turned away from a blood drive due to his sexuality.

Equality, which endorsed Jones, says it didn’t pay for the text, which the text says it did. pic.twitter.com/6fd6bpPhYm

— Jesse Scheckner (@JesseScheckner) August 11, 2026

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