As published in the Gazette -- a Tampa Bay GLBT magazine

By Rick Boylan

My friend Mauro recently marked an important milestone in his life - 15 years since he became HIV-positive. He commemorated the date with a few friends and noted that it has been almost 10 years since he developed AIDS. In that time, he has had some very serious illnesses - but due to the wonders of modern medicine, he is still here.

But now, Mauro faces another very serious obstacle - how to afford all of the medicines he needs to take. After just one set of prescriptions, he found he was no longer eligible to receive Medicare drug assistance until he spends $3,600 from his own pocket - with his only income being his Social Security. When President Bush forced this health care reform through Congress, Democrats complained that people like Mauro would find themselves this "donut hole" with no government assistance to help them cover the enormous cost of the medicines they needed to take. Despite the admitted flaw, Republican legislators went along with the president and passed the plan.

Then, there's my friend Paul. He worked with a company that was helping stop the spread of AIDS in Asia. His company developed and implemented safe sex programs for Asian governments. The company had a verifiable record of success. But then the Bush Administration decided to cancel funding for any international safe sex program that promoted use of condoms, to appease its right wing base. Now, while AIDS expands exponentially in Asia and Africa, our government officials congratulate themselves on their stand against sex outside of marriage.

These are just two examples of a government in Washington that is out of control and out of touch. Unfortunately, the abuse of power by complete Republican domination of the executive and legislative branches of government is not just a Washington problem - it is also a Florida problem.

In Tallahassee, our Republican dominated government refuses to remove the state's prohibition against gay men and lesbians adopting children. You've got to wonder why Florida is the only state with this blanket ban and you've got to wonder why the Republican nominee for governor continues to support this unfair restriction. In addition, Republican legislators consistently stop efforts to protect gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) youth from bullying and abuse in school.

Again, these are just two examples of how domination of Florida's government by the Republican Party works against the LGBT community and against the best interests of the citizens of our state.

We desperately need to restore balance in Washington and Tallahassee.

According to the Florida GLBT Democratic Caucus, there are over one million gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender adults in Florida. Our community has an opportunity with the upcoming election on November 7 to not only exercise our right to vote - but to exercise our power.

As Jesse Jackson says, "In politics, an organized minority is a political majority." The Stonewall Democrats of Pinellas and our sister organizations in Hillsborough (GLBTA Democratic Caucus), Sarasota/Manatee (Suncoast Stonewall Democrats) and in other counties across the state are organizing so our community can help elect Democrats who will make sure our interests are also represented.

In Florida, over 72% of LGBT voters are registered Democrats and our community is the Party's second most loyal constituency - for good reason. Almost without exception, Democrats vote with our community on every issue important to us, while Republicans consistently vote against us. And, while Democrats are getting progressively better at understanding and supporting our issues, Republicans are getting unmistakably worse.

In an October 2 interview with the New York Blade, Congressman Barney Frank (D-Mass.) explained how Democrats winning control of the House could affect our interests. "It means no more anti-gay bills come up and some pro-gay bills come up, and we'll pass some of them." Frank added that, "people won't have to spend any energy fighting that stupid Constitutional amendment because the Democrats won't let it come up."

We need to restore balance. Our community represents 6.5% of Florida's total adult population. Hillsborough and Pinellas counties have respectively, the fifth and sixth highest number of LGBT residents in the state. Our local community can help our state and our nation restore the important checks and balances that make our government work and that ensure our government represents all of its citizens.

Thomas Jefferson said, "All tyranny needs to gain a foothold is for people of good conscience to remain silent."

We cannot afford to remain silent. We need to vote for Democratic candidates and restore balance to our government for the sake of friends like Mauro, for important efforts like Paul's, and for the good of the LGBT community.

Voting is NOT hard. What IS hard is living with the consequences of apathy and more of the wrong leadership for two (or four) more years.

Printable Version

#

Rick Boylan, President
Stonewall Democrats of Pinellas County

For more information: in Pinellas, http://www.stonewallpinellas.org/; in Hillsborough, http://www.hcglbtadc.org/; in Manatee and Sarasota, http://www.suncoaststonewalldemocrats.org/.