Community Effort Orlando (CEO) will be held in Florida in June, ahead of a new anti-trans bathroom bill that will affect next year’s event, attendees worry.
Organizers behind the biggest fighting game community tournament in Florida, Community Effort Orlando (CEO), recently found out the hard way why you don’t rely on the infrastructure of an increasingly fascist state to host your event, especially if you care about keeping transgender attendees safe.
Florida’s House of Representatives in May passed HB 1521, which “prohibits willfully entering restroom[s] or changing facilit[ies] designated for opposite sex and refusing to depart when asked to do so” within government-owned or -leased buildings. The bill goes on to define “male” and “female” according to narrow “reproductive roles” assigned at birth, making its anti-trans agenda abundantly clear. Those found in violation of these restrictions could face criminal trespassing charges and fines of up to $10,000.
The state’s far-right Republican governor and 2024 presidential candidate Ron DeSantis signed HB 1521 into law on May 17.
CEO, one of the most prestigious events on the competitive circuit behind the Evolution Championship Series (or Evo), is currently contracted with the Ocean Center convention center in Daytona Beach through 2024, a move that even before the passing of HB 1521 drew criticism from the fighting game community.
Since moving from Orlando to Daytona Beach in 2018, tournament attendees have reported hostile and bigoted treatment from locals. CEO organizer Alex Jebailey was quick to address the city’s open aggression after the first year at the Ocean Center.
