While a public opinion poll conducted last month shows that a majority of Floridians do not support updating changes in the state from the “Gulf of Mexico” to the “Gulf of America,” that was of little concern to the House State Affairs Committee on Thursday.
The committee voted along party lines to advance two proposals making that change into both state law and state agencies. Both measures will now head to the entire House for floor votes.
First up was a proposal (HB 575) sponsored by Brevard County Republican Tyler Sirois that would align Florida statutes with President Trump’s executive order last month to replace all references to the “Gulf of Mexico” with the “Gulf of America.”
In response, Orlando Democratic Rep. Anna Eskamani initially offered an amendment renaming the Gulf of Mexico the “Gulf of Endor,” referring to a fictional moon depicted in the Star Wars universe, which she withdrew shortly afterward.
Miami-Dade County Democrat Dotie Joseph said a better alternative would be Chactemal, which she says was the Gulf’s original name before the Spanish renamed it the Gulf of Mexico.
Another proposal moved forward by the committee is sponsored by Miami-Dade Republican Rep. Juan Porras (HB 549) and would require state agencies to update geographic materials to reflect the new federal designation of “Gulf of America” on or after July 1.
Porras acknowledged that if the next elected president opts to repeal Trump’s executive order, “then I imagine there would have to be some statute to reflect the name change as well.”
Jacksonville Democratic Rep. Angie Nixon called the labeling change a form of “institutionalized racism.”
GOP Rep. Wyman Duggan argued it isn’t an anomaly for geographic regions to be renamed, citing examples like East Pakistan becoming Bangladesh, Rhodesia becoming Zimbabwe, and Ceylon becoming Sri Lanka. “This isn’t out of the historical norm. It’s consistent with federal law,” he said. “If it changes in the future, it can change again. I don’t understand all the angst.”
Both measures have companion bills in the Senate that still have committee stops before reaching the floor of that chamber for a final up or down vote.
–Mitch Perry, Florida Phoenix
