Within days of the acquittal of George Zimmerman in the death of Trayvon Martin, calls to boycott Florida, where the shooting and trial occurred, began.
A petition published on MoveOn.org, a liberal advocacy group, encouraged people to boycott Florida, a popular tourist destination, until it repealed its Stand Your Ground law, which allows people to use lethal force to defend themselves if they "reasonably believe" they might be killed or suffer severe injuries, even if they can retreat from the conflict.
While Mr. Zimmerman's defense team did not invoke Stand Your Ground in the courtroom, the trial focused attention on the law, which some opponents say makes prosecuting self-defense cases in the state difficult.
Others have taken to Facebook and Twitter, using hashtags like #BoycottFlorida or #NotFlorida, to advocate boycotts of Florida vacations and of buying products like orange juice from the state.
And during a concert in Quebec City on Sunday night, Stevie Wonder announced that he would not perform in Florida until the Stand Your Ground law is repealed. He added, "Wherever I find that law exists I will not perform in that state or that part of the world." Similar self-defense laws are on the books in about two dozen states.
In 2012, Florida, which counts Disney World, Palm Beach and Miami among its many attractions, had 91.4 million visitors generating $71.8 billion in tourism spending and $4.3 billion in state sales tax revenue, according to Visit Florida, the state's tourism marketing company.
The boycotts are directed at at the tourism business. The MoveOn.org petition, which by Wednesday morning had drawn more than 8,000 signatures, says that "if the murder of Trayvon Martin isn't enough to get lawmakers' attention, maybe a loss in revenue to the state will be."
Similar boycotts began after Arizona passed tough immigration legislation in April 2010 that opponents considered racially discriminatory. Musicians canceled concerts, and some convention organizers decided to skip the state that year. According to a report released in November 2010 by the Center for American Progress, a liberal policy group in Washington, the state's convention business as a whole declined by $45 million.
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