St. Pete's Florida Gay Pride Ads Rejected by Major Billboard Company

Clear Channel one of the largest outdoor advertisers has rejected two ads from the St. Pete's gay pride which serves the Tampa Bay, Florida LGBT community. The company has approved two current ads and has accepted ads from the organization in the past, but doesn't wish to comment on its decision to reject this set. The ads in question display a lesbian couple with the words "My Family is Free" and a gay shirtless couple saying "My Family is Fun."

Parade organizers are calling foul and suggesting that the company is rejecting the ads because it displays two same-sex couples. As a result St. Pete's Pride has pulled their other ads to make a point.



Clear Channel Outdoor can be contacted at: http://www.clearchanneloutdoor.com/contact/cf_outdoor.aspx

Virtual Lobby Day for LGBTQ Rights in Florida

Equality Florida is encouraging netroots activists to urge legislators to sponsor three LGBT equality bills. The bills would ensure fairness in the areas of employment, adoption, and spousal benefits.

• The Florida Competitive Workforce Act (HB 391 by Skidmore and SB 798 by Gelber) This bill would add sexual orientation and gender identity to the state law that already protects people in employment and housing based on race, religion, sex, age and disability.

• Repeal of Florida's Adoption Ban (HB 3 by Brandenburg and SB 102 by Rich) Equality Florida continues to work with legislators to repeal the ban. With approximately 3,000 children waiting for adoption in Florida's foster care system, the state desperately needs to open up the pool to include qualified gay and lesbian parents.

• Domestic Partnerships (HB 477 by Steinberg SB 232 by Sobel) This bill would create a statewide domestic partnership policy in Florida. Dozens of cities and companies in Florida already offer some form of domestic partnership benefits, but right now there are no statewide protections for our families.

Take action by filling out this form to contact your representative and state senator.

Ask the Kissimmee City Commission to Approve Domestic Partnerships

Equality Florida has an action alert supporting LGBT city employees in Kissimmee Florida:

"In the coming weeks, the Kissimmee City Commission will consider the approval of domestic partner benefits for city employees.

If approved, Kissimmee will join dozens of municipalities across Florida in offering its employees some form of domestic partnership coverage. The inclusion of domestic partner coverage provides a critical lifeline for all unmarried city employees, gay and straight.

Help Kissimmee take it’s rightful place as a fair-minded city by voicing your support for domestic partner benefits."

Please send this message so that partnership benefits are approved.

Demand McDonald's Offer Protections Based on Gender Identity/Expression

The worlds largest fast food chain McDonald's has been under the spotlight after an Orlando manager refused to hire a seventeen year old transgender woman Zikkeria Bellamy because of her gender identity. The manager harassed the teen by leaving a voice-mail saying: "You will not get hired, we do not hire faggots" The manager of that location has since been fired, but the corporate policy still does not include protections on the basis of gender identity/expression.

McDonald's issued this press release regarding the incident:

"McDonald’s has a strict policy prohibiting any form of discrimination or harassment in hiring, termination, or any other aspect of employment in the organization. The restaurant requires all employees to comply with local, state and federal employment laws." (GLAAD)

Please urge McDonald's to alter their corporate policy regarding employment practice to include protections on the basis of gender identity/expression.

Also, be sure to sign our act.ly petition to McDonald's on Twitter.

Endorse the Florida Competitive Workforce Bill

The Florida Competitive Workforce bill adds "sexual orientation and gender identity and expression" to Florida's civil rights law that bans discrimination in housing, employment and public accommodations.

Take a stand today. Sign on to this letter of support as an individual, organization and/or company and spread the word.

Gay Republicans to Rally in Fort Lauderdale Tonight

A group of gay and lesbian conservatives will gather in Fort Lauderdale to celebrate the arrival of a new club in South Florida on Friday Sept. 11.

The new club was created as another avenue for local gay and lesbian conservatives to network and to engage in local activism. The group’s basic principles of a free market economy strong defense personal freedom and responsibility align perfectly with basic Republican tent pole issues. In addition the Sunshine Republicans aim to increase GLBT awareness and inclusion in the party and in the nation.

While monthly meeting information is to be announced the new club will host its high profile kickoff event at the Fort Lauderdale City Hall on Sept. 11 at 7 p.m. The event is open to the public in an attempt to lure conservatives to the new group and to the Republican Party. The meeting will feature special guest Robert Lowry Republican candidates for Congress and other guests from the community. More special guests are to be announced.

Please visit www.sunshinerepublicans.org for further meeting details or to find out more about the Sunshine Republicans.

Crossposted via Miami Herald.

Southern AAA Reverses Policy and Recognizes LGBT Families

7/27/09: "During a face-to-face meeting on Wednesday, July 21, between Equality Florida and AAA South, top management at the 4th largest AAA affiliate in the country committed to recognizing all spouses, regardless of gender or sexual orientation. The policy allows gay married couples to receive spousal discounts under AAA's Associate Membership program" (Planet Transgender).

Send AAA South a thank you letter with Equality Florida's E-form for their commitment to equality

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6/29/09: The American Automobile Association (AAA) is a 50 million member North-American lobbying, insurance and service organization. The organization isn't a single entity but comprised of several smaller regional clubs.

Equality Florida is reporting that "AAA South is made up of Florida, Georgia, Tennessee and Puerto Rico and that they have taken an increasingly hard line in rejecting the recognition of gay and lesbian couples"

The problem is that there are some reports that "AAA refused to provide a family or associate membership to the callers partner to even those who were legally married elsewhere or have civil union or domestic partnership status." In fairness to the company there are also many statements by couples who claim they had no problems and faced no discrimination.

Other AAA's around the country are fully inclusive and recognize LGBT families.

Contact AAA South membership services and urge them to promote fairness and adopt a uniform standard for dealing with LGBT individuals and couples.

Membership services:
1-800-222-1134

Gov. Charlie Crist "Will Think" About Gay Adoption in Florida

Launching a tour to promote "Explore Adoption Day" in Florida, Gov. Charlie Crist is now signaling he may be open to allowing gays the right to adopt. Currently Florida and Arkansas are the only two states that expressly forbid gay couples from adopting, while other states do create unnecessary hurdles for couples seeking to adopt.

"Now a candidate for U.S. Senate, Crist hinted today that he might support lifting the ban. At first, Crist said it would be the Legislature's responsibility to change the law. When pressed on whether he would support the effort, Crist said, "I'd have to think about it" (Tallahassee).

The ACLU and advocates of ending the adoption ban are receiving this as positive news by a governor who up until now said he opposes gay adoption and supports the existing ban.

Please urge the governor to support repealing the adoption ban, let him know that the science is in and children of gay couples do just as well as those raised by heterosexuals, and some reports indicate that they may be more open minded to diversity.

Office of Governor Charlie Crist
State of Florida
The Capitol
400 S. Monroe St.
Tallahassee, FL 32399-0001
Email: Charlie.Crist@MyFlorida.com
Executive Office of the Governor Switchboard: (850) 488-7146

Florida Senator Rudy Garcia: "No Time" to Fight Discrimination

Florida's LGBT non-discrimination bill (Senate bill 2012) deserves a hearing so that the thousands of families out there can be protected from discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity.

Senator Rudy Garcia Chair of the Commerce Committee is claiming there is "no time" to bring the bill to the floor this legislative season, citing a need to focus on the economy.

Please tell Senator Garcia that while the economic downturn must be a focus of the legislature, the non-discrimination bill deserves some time to be heard as well.

Use Equality Florida's E-contact Form to correspond with the Senator.

Amendment 1 Fails, LGBT Protections Remain

It is about time the side for equality win on a referendum. Anti-queer folks in the city of Gainesville, Florida wanted to repeal an ordinance with protections for LGBT people which included housing, and employment, as well as allowing the city's estimated 100 transgender residents to use the bathroom of their choice.

The anti-queer side campaigned to eliminate these protections using their traditional scare tactics, ie: the law will allow men to enter into women's bathrooms.

It is with pleasure to be the first blog to officially call the vote in favor of the NO side as reported by the results page.

With 100% of the 34 precincts reporting the NO side (favoring equality) wins 58.32% versus the yes (anti-gay) sides 41.68%

Blog Spotlight: Gay South Florida - Miami Herald

The Miami Herald's blog - Gay South Florida by Steve Rothaus covers issues relevant to the LGBT community throughout Miami and Fort Lauderdale.

Gainesville: Vote NO on Amendment One!

Conservatives in Gainesville Florida are attempting to take away protections that have been set out for LGBT people by using a ballot measure.

The ballot initiative says the following:

"Shall the City Charter Be Amended to prohibit the adoption or enforcement of ordinances, regulations, rules, or policies that provide protected status, preferences, or discrimination claims based on classification, characteristics, or orientations not recognized by the Florida Civil Rights Act. The act recognizes, race, color, creed, religion, gender, national origin, age, handicap, marital and familial status. Additionally, this amendment voids existing ordinances concerning sexual orientation, gender identity, and other ordinances inconsistent with this amendment."

This measure if passed on March 24th will take away Gainesville's right to protect groups that are not explicity listed in the Florida Civil Rights Act. Sadly, sexual orientation nor gender identity are protected classes in the states general civil rights protections laws.



Please vote against discrimination and help get the word out by canvassing and phone banking to ensure the defeat of Amendment 1 by going to Equality is Gainesville's Business.

Florida Supreme Court Action Alert

Florida Supreme Court Justice Charles Wells is retiring next month, and Governor Charlie Crist (R) is in the process of selecting Wells' replacement.

Gov. Crist has already appointed several extremely conservative judges after being aggressively lobbied by the far right. And they're at it again. The ultra right-wing American Family Association has begun to rally around Judge Alan Lawson, telling their members to contact Governor Crist on Lawson's behalf. They are flooding the Governor's office with calls, faxes, and emails in support, urging him to appoint Judge Lawson immediately.

If Wells is replaced with an ultra-conservative Justice, then lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Floridians will have a difficult time being heard in court. Plus, many of the issues that we care about, such as overturning the anti-gay adoption ban, currently heading to the court, will be jeopardized.

Two Things you Can Do

1 - Click here to email the Governor. Demand that he appoint a Justice that reflects the great diversity of our state.

2 - Call Gov. Crist Today! (850) 488-7146

Anti-Gay Fort Lauderdale Mayor Jim Naugle Replaced By Pro-LGBT Jack Seiler

Jack Seiler has won the position for Fort Lauderdale mayor in what looks to be a major shift in policy with regards to LGBT issues. The former mayor Jim Naugle was staunchly anti-gay accusing the gay population of high rates of public sex and promiscuity, when the actual police record showed very few arrests of gay people for such behavior, numbers on par with arrests of heterosexuals involved in such activities.

Jack Seiler was not endorsed by gay groups, there were 2 other openly gay candidates running, one was Earl Rynerson who was unfairly scrutinized by Fox News.

The shift in power appears to be positive with the new mayor saying "one can look to his 8 year record to see his support of the LGBT community," he goes on to say he strongly supports domestic partnerships and gay adoption rights, calling the idea that gay couples shouldn't be allowed to adopt "ridiculous."

Jack Seiler's message to the LGBT community:


Video of Jack Seiler addressing anti-gay Jim Naugle's comments:


http://jackseiler.com/

Maps of Florida Marriage Ban Supporters

Florida law ensures that donations to politicians and political campaigns get record by the Campaign Finance Database of the Florida Division of Elections Office, this database is made available publicly post-election.

If you know any friends or family on the map, you can use the conflict resolution page to discuss with them how their support of amendment 2 hurts families.

It is also important to utilize this public information to see which businesses have contributed to hate, by having access to this record we can decide where to spend our dollars.

See who supported Amendment 2 to ban marriage, civil unions, and domestic partnerships in Florida, by checking the Marriage 4 All website.

Gay & Lesbian Leadership Institute (Candidate & Campaign Training)

The Victory Fund's Gay & Lesbian Leadership Institute will hold training this month in Fort Lauderdale.

The seminar is a 3 day intensive program about the science of running for political office. The program discusses the unique struggles of running as an out candidate, the possibility of anti-gay smears and many other important techniques when running for office.

Future trainings in other cities include:

Cleveland, OH
Candidate Training
June 18-21

Colorado Springs, CO
Candidate Training
September

San Francisco, CA
Candidate Training
Dec. 2-5

Learn more about our Candidate & Campaign Training and to apply to attend the Fort Lauderdale session.

Get Fox News Out of the Bedroom!

Fox News has an article up on their front page about openly gay candidate Earl Rynerson who is campaigning to be the next mayor of Fort Lauderdale, Florida,

The "news" organization is right to bring up questions about his own fiscal problems, and other legal issues.

They have absolutely no right to promote fear based on his sexual orientation and his specific sexual practices so long as they are legal and consensual.

(Check out the news story here!)

SHAME ON FOX NEWS for gay-baiting and using fear tactics to promote their agenda.

Please click to contact Fox News Online and tell them to stop their blatant homophobic news coverage.

You can also contact Fox News via phone at: 1-888-369-4762.

GLSEN Fundraiser in Miami Beach, Florida

GLSEN, the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network, is having a fundraiser Jan. 31 in Miami Beach.

Miami Honor Society Reception
Sat, jan 31st 2009
7-10pm

At the home of
Dan Schres
1545 Meridian Ave
Miami Beach, FL 33139

RSVP by Thurs Jan 29th to Solonje Burnett, Special Events Manager ay 646.388.6589 or sburnett@glsen.org

Earl Rynerson Running to Replace Anti-Gay Jim Naugle as Fort Lauderdale Mayor

Remember the Fort Lauderdale, Florida mayor who is obsessed with homosexuality? Yes, we are talking about none other than gay sex obsessed, liar and freak Mayor Jim Naugle.

His seat is opening up in 2009, and now openly gay Earl Rynerson is running for the position to help clean up the city mess and also steer away from the public relations nightmare caused by the current anti-gay Democratic mayor. This change could help boost tourism and revitalize the economy that has suffered as a result of many gays feeling ostracized by the current Mayor.

To learn more or to support check out: http://www.earlformayor.com/

Web Spotlight: Undo2

Undo2 is a grassroots campaign to undo the harm of Amendment 2-a constitutional amendment that bans marriage equality and jeopardizes any legal protections for same-sex couples and all unmarried Floridians.