Florida GLBT Democratic Caucus Winter Conference Features Gay Winners (Broward County Commissioner Ken Keechl) and Gay-Friendly Winners (Rep.-elect Ron Klein)

Fort Lauderdale – The Florida GLBT Democratic Caucus will hold its winter conference this Saturday, December 2 at the Democratic Vote Center in Fort Lauderdale, after a successful midterm election that featured gay and gay-friendly candidates winning upsets over entrenched Republican incumbents. Entitled Lessons Learned in 2006 – Now On to 2008!, the Caucus’ winter conference will be held in conjunction with the winter board meeting of the National Stonewall Democrats, the GLBT arm of the Democratic National Committee.

The preliminary schedule follows; an update will be released later this week.

Friday, December 1

WHAT: Fundraising cocktail reception benefiting the Florida GLBT Democratic

Caucus and the National Stonewall Democrats

WHEN: Friday, December 1

6:00pm to 7:00pm: VIP reception

7:00pm to 9:00pm: General reception

WHO: VIP reception will feature Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL), Rep. Robert Wexler (D-FL) and Rep. Kendrick Meek (D-FL)

WHERE: Galleria One DoubleTree Hotel

2670 E. Sunrise Blvd.

Fort Lauderdale

Saturday, December 2

WHAT: Winter conference of the Florida GLBT Democratic Caucus

WHEN: Saturday, December 2

Public program begins with lunch (see below)

WHERE: Democratic Vote Center

1700 N. Andrews Ave.

Fort Lauderdale

WHO: Schedule as follows:

+ 8:00am to 9:00am: Breakfast and registration
+ 9:00am to Noon: Board meetings of the Florida GLBT Democratic Caucus and the National Stonewall Democrats
+ 12:30pm: Lunch featuring Rep.-elect Ron Klein (sponsored by the Human Rights Campaign)
+ 1:30pm: Broward County Sheriff Ken Jenne; introduced by Adriane Reesey, openly-gay Community Involvement Specialist at the Department of Law Enforcement
+ 2:00pm: State Rep.-elect Evan Jenne (District 100)
+ 2:15pm: Former Fort Lauderdale Commissioner Dean Trantalis
+ 2:30pm: Broward County Commissioner Ken Keechl
+ 3:15pm: Jo Wyrick, Executive Director, National Stonewall Democrats

INFO: The Florida GLBT Democratic Caucus represents the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender communities for the Florida Democratic Party. With 15 chapters across the state, the Caucus played a major role in electing Democrats this cycle.
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Measure elevates relationships legal status without 'married' title The Associated Press
Updated: 9:45 a.m. ET Nov 28, 2006

TRENTON, N.J. - Conservative groups in New Jersey are pushing a proposal that would grant the rights of marriage - but not the title - to gays, siblings and others involved in domestic partnerships. The plan comes in reaction to a landmark Supreme Court ruling last month that said gay couples in New Jersey should have access to the same rights and benefits as married couples. Whether to call those rights marriages, civil unions or something else was left up to lawmakers.

Under the conservatives' plan, rights would be available to gay couples, relatives and other twosomes who are not eligible to marry, said Len Deo, president of the New Jersey Family Policy Council. Unrelated opposite-sex couples, who can legally marry, would not be eligible for the designation.

For instance, a brother and sister who live together would be able to register under what supporters call an "equal benefits" bill. That way, one sibling could be covered under the other's employer-sponsored health insurance, and the survivor would not be taxed on inheritance if the other died.

Making the law broad would avoid something distasteful to many conservatives - elevating the relationships of same-sex couples to the same legal status enjoyed by married couples.

"We're going to vigorously oppose civil unions if it raises up to marriage without the m-word," said John Tomicki, president of the New Jersey Coalition to Preserve and Protect Marriage, a group of clergy, scholars and conservative groups.

'A red herring'?
Steven Goldstein, executive director of the gay rights group Garden State Equality, said the measure was a long shot to pass and, if it did, would not satisfy the state Supreme Court's requirements.

"It's a red herring for anti-gay vitriol," Goldstein said.

The plan is one in a wide range of options lawmakers have to consider. Conservative groups also are backing a constitutional amendment that would define marriage as being between only a man and a woman.

Some lawmakers, backed by gay civil rights leaders, are pushing for full marriage rights - and the name - for gays. Gay rights activists say that it's important for them to be able to call their unions "marriage"
because everyone understands what that term means, unlike "civil unions."

Key lawmakers in the Democratic majority in the Legislature say they favor letting gay couples register in civil unions that would offer all the benefits of marriage but not the title. Assembly Speaker Joseph Roberts Jr. has said action may be taken by the end of the year.

State Sen. Gerald Cardinale, one of the most socially conservative members of the Legislature, said he would support an "equal benefits" law because it does not discriminate against people who are not gay.
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From the the Miami Herald

Winner: Gay candidates. Democrat Ken Keechl defeated Scott to become the first openly gay member of the Broward County Commission. Michael Gongora won the most votes in his bid to become the first openly gay Miami Beach commissioner, and he heads to a runoff.
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Opa-locka Mayor Joseph Kelley defeated former Mayor Myra Taylor, and in Miami Beach, Michael Gongora and Deede Weithorn will go to a runoff for a commission seat.

BY KATHLEEN FORDYCE
MIAMI HERALD

Two Miami Beach activists outpaced the pack in a contentious City Commission race and are headed to a runoff, and Opa-locka's mayor handily fought off a comeback attempt by a former mayor as voters made choices in 13 cities across Miami-Dade County on Tuesday.

Political newcomers Michael Gongora, an attorney specializing in community association law, and Deede Weithorn, a certified public accountant, were the top vote-getters among the five candidates vying for the Miami Beach Commission seat vacated by Luis Garcia.

''I am exhilarated, I am exhausted and excited,'' Gongora, who came in first, said at his victory party at The Forge. ``I am ready to fight for two more weeks to become Miami Beach's newest commissioner.''

Weithorn likened the campaign to ``running a marathon . . . You have to work to keep your pace steady, and you have to keep going.''

In Opa-locka, Mayor Joseph Kelley defeated former Mayor Myra Taylor, who pleaded guilty in 2005 to a misdemeanor charge of failing to pay her income tax in a timely manner.

''I'm going to continue what we started, continue to improve infrastructure and housing issues, try to get our water plant online,'' Kelley said.

Incumbent Opa-locka Commissioners Timothy Holmes and Dorothy ''Dottie'' Johnson also retained their seats.

INCUMBENT LOSES

In a runoff in Miami Gardens, challenger André Williams overcame incumbent City Council member Ulysses ''Buck'' Harvard, who was appointed last year.

In Doral, Sandra Ruiz was reelected to her spot in the city's second council election since incorporating in 2003. She defeated challenger Robert Arias. ''I'm not surprised for the victory, but I am honored by the amount of support,'' she said.

In Pinecrest, Jeff Cutler swept past opponent Paul Sasso, while Joe Corradino squeaked by Eric Weiss and Robert Luger to win seats on the Village Council dais.

Cutler and Corradino will replace outgoing Vice Mayor Robert Hingston and council member Cindie Blanck, who are stepping down because of term limits.

In the small village of El Portal, one more election will be required to determine the mayor's race. Incumbent Mayor Marriette SaintVil and Village Council member Gaston Gosselin earned a spot in the runoff, to be held Nov. 21. Ex-Mayor Daisy Black was the third candidate in the race.

El Portal's lone contested council race pitted two newcomers, with Joyce Davis defeating Chante Sweet.

CHARTER PROPOSALS

In Homestead, voters approved a charter amendment to do away with at-large City Council posts in favor of all-district seats, but voted down proposals to convert all six seats and the mayor's post to four-year terms.

North Miami voters passed charter amendments by a comfortable margin, freeing the city to set new building height and density limits, and to sell city land if needed for redevelopment.

Mayor Kevin Burns said he was pleased that voters had enough trust in the city to remove charter restrictions adopted in the 1970s that forced a public vote on each building over four stories, and forbade significant land sales.

In North Bay Village, voters approved a charter amendment that, among other things, raises the mayor's annual salary from $3,000 to $7,500, and commissioners' yearly pay from $2,400 to $6,000.

A charter amendment in Bal Harbour proposing stricter height and density controls was overwhelmingly approved. The amendment, placed on the ballot by a citizens' petition, prohibits any variances or other zoning changes that would allow new buildings to exceed permitted heights for their property under the current village code and comprehensive plan.

Voters in Miami Springs also voted to amend the city charter to limit condominiums or apartment buildings to three stories or 40 feet in height.

Results from a Hialeah straw ballot question asking the Miami-Dade Commission to call a countywide vote to make the property appraiser an elected position were not released Tuesday night.

A court order prohibited the elections supervisor from making them public, Elections Supervisor Lester Sola said. Hialeah resident Reinaldo Delgado Jr. obtained the order in a lawsuit alleging that the ballot measure failed to ``impart its purpose in clear and unambiguous language, as is required.''
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By Bill Hirschman & Elizabeth Baier
South Florida Sun-Sentinel

November 8, 2006

Jim Scott, once one of Florida's most powerful politicians, lost his District 4 Broward County Commission seat to lawyer Ken Keechl -- Scott's first loss in 30 years.

The upset in Tuesday's election removes the sole Republican voice from the commission and puts the first openly gay candidate on the board.

Keechl will be sworn in Nov. 21 with the other victors: District 2 incumbent Kristin Jacobs and former state Sen. Stacy Ritter, who won the District 3 seat.

Keechl celebrated with supporters at his Coral Ridge home: "My message was universal. People of Broward County are tired of being overtaxed, tired of losing their green space and beaches, and they wanted a commissioner that will represent them full time, not someone that will use their office for political gain. They wanted a change."

Scott, 64, becomes the first incumbent commissioner to lose an election since Norman Abramowitz in 2000.

"It's a tough year to be a Republican in Broward County," Scott said.

Scott had been seeking his second full term. He was appointed by Gov. Jeb Bush in 2000 when Scott Cowan pleaded guilty to election law violations. Scott won election in 2002 without opposition.

The race appeared surprisingly close in recent weeks, given Scott's stature as former president of the state Senate and a force in local politics for three decades.

But Keechl campaigned hard while Scott's campaign seemed lower-key -- fewer yard signs in many precincts -- although he invested heavily in mailings and commercials on cable stations seen only in targeted neighborhoods.

Keechl, 43, who is active in Democratic politics and the area's gay community, attempted to tap public discontent over rising property taxes. He also questioned Scott's ethics for his role in redeveloping Fort Lauderdale's last public golf course.

His mailing attacked Scott for missing 13 commission meetings in two years and questioned his devoting time to lobbying in Tallahassee.

Scott stressed his record of tax reform and cuts in government spending. He cited his role in building parks, blocking mega-development along the ocean, winning state aid for beach restoration and helping cities improve blighted areas.

Stacy Ritter, a Democrat in her sixth campaign, defeated newcomer John Irving Halpern, medical director of the emergency department at Coral Springs Medical Center. Ritter, 46, benefited from name recognition earned serving in the Legislature from 1996 to 2004. Ritter replaces Ben Graber, who resigned to run for the state Senate.

Kristin Jacobs, 47, trounced independent Bob Hoffman. Hoffman, a mortgage and real estate broker, stopped campaigning weeks ago, citing his mother's illness and other "personal tragedies."
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By Anthony Man
Sun-Sentinel Political Writer

Hoping to fire up the party faithful, candidates and activists are kicking into overdrive for the next three days, with non-stop phone bank operations, targeted mailings and appearances by superstar political celebrities.

"In Broward, as much as 70 percent of the vote will actually be cast on Election Day," said Ed Pozzuoli, Broward County chairman of Charlie Crist's gubernatorial campaign and former county Republican leader. "This is a very critical period."

Every waking moment he and other operatives spend during the next 72 hours is about igniting the two sides' respective bases -- making sure voters who are reliable Democrats or Republicans are excited enough Tuesday that they actually go to the polls.

"Broward turns out in the races when they're excited about the candidates and they're motivated," said U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Weston.

That's why Democrats are bringing their biggest star, former President Bill Clinton, to overwhelmingly Democratic Broward for a rally today.

And it's why President Bush, who has dismal ratings in national public opinion polls, has been campaigning in places like Montana, where he can fire up the Republican base without generating negative attention that could hurt his party's candidates in swing districts like those in South Florida.

Bush is scheduled for a Monday rally in the Republican-friendly Florida Panhandle.

Most of the efforts to get out the vote -- known as GOTV or the "ground game" in the political world -- are hidden from public view.

One side's well-executed GOTV effort in Broward, with nearly 1 million voters, can mean the difference between victory and defeat in a statewide contest.

Broward County has 466,489 registered Democrats -- one of every nine in the state -- 242,237 Republicans and 214,921 independents.

Candidates and political parties aren't the only ones trying to get voters to the polls. Gay activists, conservative Christians and union activists are all mounting their own GOTV efforts:

In Broward gay bars and other parts of the state this weekend, voter handouts will be distributed by members of the Florida Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual & Transgender Democratic Caucus.

Gay and lesbian voters will also get mailers, e-mails and telephone calls.

The message, said caucus President Michael Albetta: "These are the candidates to vote for. These are the candidates who really are in our corner."

In churches this weekend, parishioners will get voter guides from the Miami-based Christian Family Coalition. The 150,000 people on the group's e-mail list will get voting reminders this weekend.

"This is a critical election," said Anthony Verdugo, the organization's executive director. "We are at a crossroads in terms of our state and the nation."

Households with union members will get contacts from unions, telling them to get to the polls to support labor-backed candidates. The AFL-CIO is bringing its national executive vice president, Linda Chavez-Thompson, to West Palm Beach today to help push labor's political message.

Local Democrats are also getting a boost from the Broward Public Schools' decision to close Tuesday.

Ostensibly designed to allow teachers and students to help out as poll workers, Republican state committee member Sharon Day said giving thousands of unionized teachers and other employees a day off means a large force working the streets on behalf of the Democrats.

The national Republican Party's vaunted "72-hour" effort is under way in Broward. It's the strategy, honed by top White House political strategist Karl Rove that brings together intensive party efforts to gather information well before Election Day. Voters who indicated to phone bank callers or door-to-door canvassers that they'd support Republicans are in databases along with voting histories.

Those people all get contacted.

"The 72-hour effort is important. We reach out to every registered Republican and encourage them to vote," county Republican Chairman Shane Strum said. "[Democrats] almost 2-to-1 outnumber us, but we get our folks out and we can cut their margin."

County Democratic Chairman Mitch Ceasar recently said the whole campaign season comes down to turnout.

"We have to make sure that Broward turns out every voter," he said. "This is the window of opportunity. This is our chance. We really have to go out of our way."

Broward Elections Supervisor Brenda Snipes said last week she expected turnout of about 50 percent. Secretary of State Sue Cobb estimated statewide turnout of 65 percent.

Both Ceasar and Strum have GOTV offices with phone banks, signs and literature for distribution in the final days of the campaign.

Targeted mailings are going to carefully identified demographic groups, and Broward Republicans are running targeted cable TV advertising.

No one knows the effectiveness of this year's GOTV efforts until Election Day is over.

For generations, the Democratic Party's labor union base gave it an edge in turning out voters.

But Republicans have outperformed Democrats in the past 10 or 12 years, said Jim Kane, president of the Florida Voter polling organization.

Democratic efforts have been "minimal at best and quite disorganized," said Kane, who also does some lobbying but isn't working for candidates.

Bryan Miller, chairman of the Democratic Professionals Council in Broward and Palm Beach counties, said Republicans would likely have a tougher time.

"It remains to be seen whether the Republican get out the vote efforts, which they love to tout, can offset the facts of the world," Miller said. "This is not an environment where Republicans are proud to be Republicans."
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Saturday, November 4, 2006



Fort Lauderdale - Florida Democratic gubernatorial nominee Jim Davis became the first gubernatorial candidate in the US to sign a Pledge to End AIDS Now. Davis' signing of the pledge was coordinated by the Florida GLBT Democratic Caucus and local AIDS activists at a campaign stop in Fort Lauderdale.

"We are 25 years into the AIDS epidemic and this nation has yet to develop a plan to end AIDS," said Michael Rajner, a Fort Lauderdale AIDS activist and national secretary of Campaign to End AIDS. "Jim Davis' commitment and leadership is a bold response for government to take ownership of this health crisis."

The pledge reads in full: "I pledge to work to develop and implement a plan to end AIDS including universal access to education, awareness, prevention, treatment, care and support."

"Democrats understand that access to healthcare should be a right, and people living with AIDS have even more obstacles to overcome than most of us in obtaining healthcare," said Michael Albetta, president of the Florida GLBT Democratic Caucus. "That Jim Davis would be the first and only gubernatorial candidate in the country to sign a pledge to work to end AIDS says a lot about the kind of governor he will be."

"The only way we'll end this national healthcare crisis is if leaders step up and commit to ending the stigma of AIDS through education, ramp up prevention efforts to stop the spread of AIDS, and provide appropriate for treatment, care and support for those of us living with AIDS," Rajner said. "It is a huge step forward for this effort that Jim Davis signed the End AIDS Now Pledge and spoke for the more than 125,000 people living with HIV/AIDS in Florida."

The Florida GLBT Democratic Caucus, an arm of the Florida Democratic Party, represents the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender (GLBT) community. The Caucus has 15 chapters across the state. The Caucus estimates that, based on its analysis of the 2000 US Census, there are more than one million GLBT residents in the State of Florida.

# # #

www.FloridaGLBTDemocrats.org

www.CampaignToEndAIDS.org

Pictured: Congressman Jim Davis, Michael Albetta; President of Florida GLBT Democratic Caucus and Michael Rajner; National Secretary for Campaign to End AIDS
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Friday night Congressman Jim Davis demonstrated leadership to the nation and the 125,000+ Floridians living with HIV/AIDS when he signed the END AIDS NOW PLEDGE.

For the past several months exhaustive efforts to have been made to have any gubernatorial candidate provide an official response to Florida having the third-most cases of HIV/AIDS in the nation. South Florida accounts for 3 of the 4 counties having the highest HIV infection rate in the nation per capita.

At a rally for Jim Davis at the Florida GLBT Democratic PAC Democratic Vote Center, Gubernatorial Candidate Jim Davis committed to "work to develop and implement a plan to end AIDS including universal access to education, awareness, prevention, treatment, care and support.

Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman-Schultz also joined Jim Davis in taking a stand to demand leadership and signed the END AIDS NOW PLEDGE! She kept asking , "tell me what I can do to help and I will!"

Pictured: Michael Rajner, National Secretary for Campaign to End AIDS and Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman-Schultz.
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An anti-Republican mood nationally may help Florida Democrats on Tuesday, but they are fighting the GOP's get-out-the-vote efforts.

BY BETH REINHARD AND LESLEY CLARK
breinhard@MiamiHerald.com

Disgust with the war in Iraq and congressional scandals have put many voters in an anti-Republican mood, but the nationwide funk won't help Florida Democrats win Tuesday unless they get their people to the polls.

Democratic activists say they are far better organized than in past elections, when a less-than-robust turnout contributed to successive statewide defeats.

But the GOP boasts a multimillion-dollar financial edge, and party leaders say their well-honed, get-out-the-vote machine will overcome any ill will toward the political establishment.

The turnout drive cranks up today, as candidates wrap up their fundraising and focus on statewide-campaign sweeps, while the parties and special-interest groups mount a final push.

A Mason-Dixon poll released Thursday shows that Florida's marquee race to replace Gov. Jeb Bush is fairly tight, with Republican Charlie Crist leading Democrat Jim Davis by seven points. The poll has a margin of error of four percentage points.

''You don't win unless you turn your people out,'' said Stephen Gaskill, a spokesman for the statewide Democratic gay caucus, which is running a get-out-the-vote operation in Broward County. ``I don't think this is the year people will sit at home and say that it doesn't matter.''

BIG NAMES TO VISIT

Both sides plan big Miami rallies. Former President Bill Clinton will be Saturday's headliner for Davis, while former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani will campaign with Crist on Sunday.

President Bush will visit Pensacola on Monday to give a pep talk to the Republican faithful, though his visit could stir up Democrats, too. Sixty percent of Florida voters rated Bush's performance as fair or poor in the Mason-Dixon survey.

Three competitive Congressional races in Florida could help tilt the balance of power in the House of Representatives.

''We have more money, we have a better ground game, we have outstanding candidates, and we're being very strategic in where we go,'' White House spokesman Tony Fratto said Thursday. ``We think you're going to see those results on Tuesday.''

The Republican National Committee is sending 50 people from Washington to hit the streets for U.S. Rep. Clay Shaw of Fort Lauderdale, and similar operations are under way for state Rep. Joe Negron, who is seeking disgraced former Congressman Mark Foley's seat, and Vern Buchanan, who is running for the Congressional seat vacated by Katherine Harris, who is running for the U.S. Senate.

''They are exceedingly organized,'' said Shaw spokeswoman Gail Gitcho. ``We're set, we're ready for it.''

Brian Smoot, campaign manager for Shaw's Democratic opponent, state Sen. Ron Klein, said the staff has been gearing up for Election Day for more than a year.

''We're certainly aware of the fact Republicans have a hallowed operation at the end, but we thought the best way to counter is with a real investment of time and resources at an early stage,'' Smoot said.

The GOP has also excelled in outreach to absentee voters. Republican absentee voters may receive as many as three mailings from the state party, plus additional fliers from candidates. Then they are likely to receive phone calls and more mailings until they return the ballots.

''We are going to touch every single registered Republican in this county,'' said Broward Republican Party Chairman Shane Strum. ``It's a well-oiled machine.''

`NIGHT AND DAY'

In contrast, Democratic absentee voters may hear from the state party only if they tend to skip mid-term elections. The party is testing its new database.

''It's night and day from what we did in 2004 and 2002,'' said Mark Bubriski, a spokesman for the Florida Democratic Party. ``Those were just blanket operations, so it's not as effective. It's very, very targeted this year.''

So far, Republicans are winning on absentee ballots, while Democrats are getting more out of early voting. In Miami-Dade and Broward, 47,716 Republicans have returned absentee ballots, compared to 27,152 Democrats. The early voting tally for the two counties is almost a mirror image: 49,294 Democrats and 27,007 Republicans.

UNION HELP

The GOP tends to run a more centralized operation, while Democrats rely more on unions and advocacy groups. The national AFL-CIO will spend $1.5 million in Florida this year -- more than it spent on the 2004 presidential election -- largely to help the Democratic party take over Congress, said the union's state political director, Deborah Dion.

The union's half-million Florida members are focused on four campaigns: helping Klein beat Shaw, helping Tim Mahoney win Foley's seat, electing Davis as governor, and defeating one of the proposed constitutional amendments. ''We can win these races. We haven't had an opportunity like this in a long time,'' Dion said at a recent gathering of 200 union leaders in Fort Lauderdale. ``It's all about turnout.''

HELPING VOTERS

Republican leaders in Miami-Dade are recruiting 300 drivers to take voters to the polls on Election Day. In Broward, the local GOP is running eight offices, up from five locations in 2004.

Miami-Dade Democratic leaders have been meeting every Wednesday in Doral to plot strategy. The Broward Democratic Party has mailed out campaign literature headlined ``Had Enough?''

''There's no doubt that we have the advantage of a head wind, but we haven't had a good record in the past few elections,'' said Bob Goldstein, vice chairman of the South Dade Democratic Club, who is helping arrange voter transportation in black neighborhoods. ``This year, we're better organized and poised to take advantage of it.''

Miami Herald staff writers Gary Fineout and Mary Ellen Klas contributed to this report.

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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

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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/.

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