Florida Republican is BANNED from Miami Pride parade a year after trolling crowd by blowing kisses from his car – despite ‘anti-LGBTQ stance’

A Florida Republican who was banned from this year’s Miami Pride parade despite his “anti-LGBTQ stance” has threatened to sue parade organizers and local governments.

Fabian Basabe, 46, who was pictured at last year’s pride parade trolling a crowd and blowing kisses from his red Chevy convertible as it rolled down Ocean Drive, learned via text message that he was not welcome at the pride parade this year, scheduled for April 14.

Bruce Horwich, the president of the nonprofit that oversees the parade, told Basabe on March 16, less than four weeks away from the big event, that they “can’t take the risk” of having him in the parade this year .

Horwich said: ‘Our bylaws clearly state that we cannot have participants who endanger themselves or other participants or antagonize our guests.’

But the controversial Republican lawmaker responded and told the Miami Herald “Preparations for a lawsuit in federal court are in full swing. My civil liberties are not in question.”

Horwich noted that the Miami Pride Board’s decision was not a political decision.

At the event last April, Basabe was seen happily waving to the crowd holding up a sign that he loves Florida, but was booed by paradegoers who shouted “shame” for his stance on supporting anti-LGBTQ legislation.

One protester held up a sign that read, “Shame on Red Basabe Voted Against Drag Queens,” while others held up a sign that read, “Resign.”

In the text Horwich sent to Basabe last month, he stated: ‘We have had Republicans, Democrats and Independents in our parade and festival in the past and welcome all political views unless they make plans or have past history to show that they are a security risk.’

Basabe’s attorney Kent Harrison Robbins sent a letter to Horwich Friday morning insisting his client be “allowed to participate.”

In the letter, Robbins stated that excluding Basabe from the parade would “willfully, knowingly, abridge (Basabe’s) right to freedom of speech and to peacefully assemble in a public street.”

“Legal precedents from the federal courts, including the Supreme Court of the United States, have held that a concern that may involve physical opposition to (Basabe) is not a legal justification for violating his speech and assembly rights,” he wrote.

“Basabe should be allowed to participate in The Pride Parade and he should be immediately notified through my office that he may do so without any hindrance.”

But Horwich told the Miami Herald that Basabe is welcome to attend the event as a spectator, although he said he and the parade organizers will decide who can participate, according to the Herald.

He added that those interested in attending Miami Pride can sign up to walk or ride in the parade and pay an entry fee through their website.

Horwich told Basabe he would issue a refund if he registered, the news source said.

“My first priority as chairman is safety during the parade and at the festival,” Horwich said.

‘The board determines who can participate in the parade. That’s everyone, as long as you don’t pose a threat to the spectators and other participants.’

Basabe hit back, telling parade organizers in a message accusing them of “extremist” protesters “stirring up the crowd and inciting violence against me for political purposes” at last year’s Pride event.

He said: “You have no right to exclude me, either as an individual or as an elected official, nor should you attempt to entrap me again with a false ‘public safety’ claim,” Basabe wrote .

“I have always attended this parade peacefully.”

Since his election, Basabe has been an opponent of LGBTQ advocacy groups. He has accused them of misrepresenting legislation he has supported, including the Parental Rights in Education Act, also known as the ‘Don’t Say Gay’ bill, who have been among Basabe’s critics.

Demonstrators from Equality Florida gathered in protest outside Basabe’s office in North Bay Village, days before last year’s pride event.

The protesters claimed that the Republican lawmaker was “getting cozy with Ron DeSantis and his Republican cronies and stabbing us in the back.”

The businessman turned reality star, who became a member of the Florida House of Representatives for the 106th District in 2022, has been at the center of multiple controversies since his election.

It was reported that when Basabe campaigned in 2022, he told voters he would be a champion of gay rights and other socially liberal causes, which received support from some local Democrats.

Although he was quiet about his own sexuality along the way, he introduced himself as a “gay candidate” at an LGBTQ Democratic Caucus conference in Florida a year earlier when he ran for the Miami Beach City Commission, the news station reported.

The married father of a teenage son was accused of sexual harassment by two former employees who filed a lawsuit against him in July 2023. Miami Herald reported.

Aaron Bos-Lun, a local LGBTQ advocate, called him the ‘George Santos of Florida’, in a New York Magazine article that profiled the politician last year.

Bos-Lun, who helps run several anti-Basabe social media accounts called Stopthebully on X and Instagram, told the magazine that his roleIt is “a necessary public service to expose someone who is so willing to lie.”