The GLBT community has achieved a few notable milestones lately. Anise Parker has just been elected mayor of Houston, the nation's fourth largest city. Parker has been the city's controller and never hid her sexual orientation during any of her seven consecutive successful campaigns in that city. Closer to home, St. Petersburg voters elected Steve Kornell as that city's first openly-gay Councilmember last month. And in Broward, the county's first openly-gay Commissioner, Ken Keechl, was selected by his colleagues to serve as County Mayor for the next year.
Small steps, to be sure, but important ones nonetheless. Visibility on every level is key as we attempt to overcome entrenched opposition to our full equality. Having openly gay and lesbian elected officials ensures a voice in policy and spending decisions that ultimately govern the way government works.
And these local victories can achieve what we're unable to – yet, anyway – at the national level. The list of GLBT legislative goals in Washington is long, and very few are being met. The legislative process is always one of give and take, often a frustrating game of hurry up and wait. Unfortunately, we've been waiting way too long for action at the federal level while localities move forward with equality initiatives showing what can be done.
Beyond the biggest items stacking up on the GLBT equality scorecard – repealing Don't Ask Don't Tell (DADT) and the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) -- a wide range of issues are in the wings, from major legislative efforts like passing the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) to stroke-of-the-pen initiatives the White House could perform tomorrow, like issuing an executive order to prohibit discrimination on the basis of gender identity or expression in the federal civilian workforce or banning federal contractors from discriminating on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity.
Here in Florida, jockeying is already beginning on initiatives to be debated in the 2010 legislative session. Perhaps one of the most important bills for Florida's sizable GLBT community is the Florida Competitive Workforce Act, which would add sexual orientation and gender identity and expression to the state civil rights bill that bans discrimination in housing, employment and public accommodations. Sponsored by Rep. Kelly Skidmore (D-Boca Raton), House Bill 391 is in effect a Florida version of ENDA. A Senate version will be introduced by Sen. Dan Gelber (D-Miami Beach), who is running for Attorney General.
Florida's GLBT and equality organizations are backing the bill, including Organizations United Together (OUT) Advocacy Network, Florida GLBT Democratic Caucus, ACLU of Florida, the Anti-Defamation League, Palm Beach Human Rights Council, SAVE Dade, and Equality Florida, as well as other GLBT and allied organizations throughout the state.
A growing number of municipalities in Florida have added sexual orientation and/or gender identity and expression to their local civil rights ordinances, although there is no statewide protection.
"Even as cities and companies across our state adopt policies banning anti-gay and gender identity-based discrimination, Florida law fails to provide statewide protection to LGBT Floridians against workplace discrimination," Mallory Wells, Public Policy Director for Equality Florida, said in a statement upon the introduction of HB 391. "No one should lose their job because of who they are."
Just this month, the Transgender Legal Defense and Education Fund (TLDEF) filed a complaint with the Florida Commission on Human Relations after an Orlando McDonald's refused to hire a transgender woman, 17-year old Zikerria Bellamy. A manager at the store left Bellamy a voicemail stating, "We do not hire faggots."
The manager was fired, and a spokeswoman for the restaurant told the Orlando Sentinel that the employee had "acted outside the scope of his authority and was not responsible." The spokeswoman added that McDonald's "has a zero tolerance policy prohibiting discrimination or harassment in the restaurant."
The manager's actions were reprehensible, yet legal in Florida. GLBT Floridians need to know that they can be sacked for who they are, regardless of their actions. Skidmore's bill faces an uphill ride in Florida's Republican-controlled legislature. But with more than one million GLBT Floridians, as estimated by the Florida GLBT Democratic Caucus, it's incumbent upon our own community to encourage support for Skidmore's bill. There should be strength in numbers, and it's our own fault if we don't use those numbers to our benefit.
Today, GLBT Floridians can be fired for who they are. It's time Florida's elected representatives in Tallahassee know they'll be fired by the voters in the next election for their inaction on issues that impact our residents.
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Make the Florida Competitive Workforce Act a reality. Join one of these statewide organizations to make your voice heard:
Florida GLBT Democratic Caucus www.floridaGLBTdemocrats.org Organizations United Together (OUT) www.outfl.org Equality Florida ACLU of Florida Anti-Defamation League
-- Stephen Gaskill Stephen Gaskill Communications Group Washington DC / South Florida 202.257.9298 / 954.667.8606 http://www.linkedin.com/in/ http://twitter.com/ |
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