ACLU of Florida’s 70th Anniversary: A Statewide Call to Courage
Seventy years ago, the ACLU of Florida was born out of resistance. It emerged in the shadows of a state-sanctioned assault on civil rights, when standing up for freedom came with real risk.
A Florida Legislative Investigative Committee fabricated an anti-communist frenzy to target integrationists and thwart the inevitable expansion of Brown v. Board’s promise – a promise that recognized separate was inherently unequal. Failing in its efforts to show that the Civil Rights Movement was “full of Communists,” the Johns Committee turned its efforts towards investigating and weeding out “suspected or admitted homosexuals.” For the sake of protecting “the American Way of Life,” the Committee employed a host of unconstitutional tactics like:
- Secret interrogations of students and faculty without due process or legal counsel
- Threats of expulsion, job loss, and criminal prosecution
- Entrapment, blackmail and forced confessions
- Surveillance and smear campaigns designed to shame, out, and silence dissenters
And still, courageous Floridians stood. For seven decades, we have remained rooted alongside the people of Florida, defending those who have been silenced, sidelined, and stripped of their rights.
Today, as civil liberties face renewed and calculated threats, we are meeting this moment with clarity, we are fighting with our convictions, and we are re-envisioning the future of our state alongside our communities. This is more than a commemoration - it is Florida’s call to courage.
Through a four-city anniversary series, we are honoring the legacy of those who came before us and calling on all Floridians to remember the lessons of our past and rise in defense of the principles embedded in our Constitution. The courage we celebrate is not just a relic of history, it is what circumstances demand of us now.
Join us as we honor the past, protect the present, and build a future where justice is real, lasting, and for all.
Get Tickets:
- September 19, 2025: Orlando
- October 10, 2025: Jacksonville
- November 7, 2025: TamPA
- December 4, 2025: Miami
- Statewide sponsorship for all four events: Join us