Brevard Zoo mulls no more political campaigns after backlash over Randy Fine fundraiser

The executive director for the Brevard Zoo said he was recommending the zoo no longer rent event space to political campaigns following backlash over a fundraiser for State Rep. Randy Fine.

A planned fundraising event for Fine's State Senate campaign, held Monday at the zoo, drew heat in recent weeks from critics angered over Fine's positions on transgender issues and recent push for legislation to codify state restrictions on certain therapies for transgender children.

About 30 protesters lined the zoo's entrance Monday evening, waving signs and shouting at cars carrying fundraiser attendees. Rally-goer Christina McPherson, a counselor who works with transgender students, said she was confused and upset by the zoo's decision to let the fundraiser go on.

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"We're big zoo fans, and the morals don't align," McPherson said. "The zoo is everything good that Brevard County has and Randy Fine is the opposite."

Brevard Zoo Executive Director Keith Winsten said the zoo, as a tax-exempt nonprofit under federal law, makes no judgement about who rents its facilities and makes the space available to everyone. Fine's campaign paid the same rate it offers other clients, he added.

"I think a lot of people were under the assumption that we were comping something or supporting, where this is simply a rental," Winsten told FLORIDA TODAY. "It's not a statement on his candidacy at all. It's a service we provide the whole community."

Nevertheless, the zoo will be reconsidering its policy of renting to political campaigns in the future, he said. The proposed change, if approved by the zoo's board of directors, would not go into effect until the next election cycle, which begins in 2024.

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"Our preference is to let this election cycle run out so that everyone has fair access to the zoo," including any potential Fine challengers, Winsten said. "But that's my current recommendation to the board."

"It's important to us to be open to all, but we also understand a lot of people felt hurt by this," he said. "Anyone who felt hurt or felt we did something wrong, we apologize for that."

Fine said he didn't blame the zoo for considering the policy change, calling the protesters "clowns" and "deviants." At least one potentially threatening comment left on a Facebook thread led the Brevard County Sheriff's Office and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement to provide additional security for the event, he said.

"It said, 'Let's remove him by force. Let's show up and send him to the shadow realm,'" Fine said, paraphrasing the post, which he shared with FLORIDA TODAY.

"Absolutely, I understand why Keith Winsten wouldn't want anything to do with these violent thugs," Fine said.

Reporters noted a sheriff's office patrol car regularly cruising past protesters and observing the rally from a distance, but saw no violence or disruptive behavior beyond some obscenities shouted at passing cars by a handful of rally-goers.

Words were briefly exchanged at one point between some protesters and a small group of pro-Fine supporters, but the situation quickly defused without incident.

Fine said the fundraiser was a success. He said about 300 people attended the event, which he estimated had raised over $250,000 for his campaign or his Friends of Randy Fine political action committee.

Shelley Rodden, a past director for Space Coast Pride who attended the protest, said the Brevard Zoo has been a strong ally for the county's LGBTQ community. Banning political campaigns would be a good move, she said, but for some people it wasn't enough.

"A lot of people are still very upset that it wasn't canceled," Rodden said of the fundraiser. She cited Fine's proposal for legislation that would ban certain therapies for transgender minors, which mirrors recent restrictions by the Florida Board of Medicine.

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The state Board of Medicine approved new rules banning hormone replacement therapy, surgeries and other treatments for children under 18 years old late last year. All 15 members of the board were appointed by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.

The ruling contradicts guidance from most major medical associations. Critics have said a lack of gender-affirming care could worsen already alarming suicide rates among transgender children.

Winsten said the zoo was strongly committed to promoting equity and inclusion.

"We remain focused on embracing diversity in our community and being welcome to all, and always helping to advance equality," he said. "That doesn't change, no matter who rents our facilities."

Eric Rogers is a watchdog reporter for FLORIDA TODAY. Contact Rogers at 321-242-3717 or esrogers@floridatoday.com. Follow him on Twitter: @EricRogersFT.

This article originally appeared on Florida Today: Brevard Zoo may ban political campaigns after Fine fundraiser anger