A meeting of German opposition conservative politicians with controversial Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has sparked criticism.
The politicians are from the Christian Social Union (CSU), the sister party of Germany's Christian Democratic Union (CDU) in the southern state of Bavaria.
"If De Santis' policies are a model for the CSU, then good night," the German government's queer commissioner, Sven Lehmann, told Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland media group on Friday.
"The far-right politician is leading a culture war in Florida against women and against lesbians, gays and transgender people. His laws are an imminent threat to minorities," Lehmann continued.
On Friday, the former transport minister at federal level, Andreas Scheuer of the CSU, posted photos of a meeting with Republican Governor DeSantis on Twitter.
The photos show the defense policy spokesman of the CSU, Florian Hahn, and the vice-chairman of the joint CDU/CSU parliamentary group, Dorothee Bär.
Scheuer captioned the photos saying: "The governor’s strong strategic and foreign policy assessments highlight trans-Atlantic cooperation."
The criticism comes after DeSantis expanded the ban on teaching about sexual orientation or gender identity in Florida. With a few exceptions, the regulation applies up to and including the 12fth grade.
