Palm Beach Post
Legislator pushes for Florida to recognize domestic partnerships
By Anthony Man January 26, 2011 10:50 AM
State Rep. Mark Pafford, D-West Palm Beach, has filed legislation to provide domestic partnership protections to committed couples throughout Florida.
From Pafford's statement:
From the Advocate:
DADT Repeal Could Be Certified Friday
By Andrew Harmon
Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Adm. Mike Mullen are prepared to recommend repeal certification of “don’t ask, don’t tell” as early as Friday, Defense officials confirmed with The Advocate.
"This afternoon, the president will meet with the secretary of Defense and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs to review the certification of the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell," according to a White House spokesman.
Breaking News! Miami-Dade Schools Now Protect All LGBT Students
Miami-Dade School District, the fourth largest in the nation, has added gender identity to their harassment and anti-bullying policy.
Equality Florida along with and members of our Miami-Dade Safe Schools Coalition have worked for more than a decade to expand these vital protections and Miami remained one of the few large Florida cities without such a policy, until now.
State Representative Luis Garcia from Miami Beach has declared he will run for Congress against incumbent David Rivera.
Garcia is a long time champion to the LGBT community. While serving on the Miami Beach city commission he helped pass several pro-LGBT policies and has been a consistent supporter of LGBT legislation in Tallahassee.
In his campaign announcement yesterday, Garcia told supporters he was running because, "The middle class has been under attack."
Row (short for Rowena) Iliescu is Equality Florida’s South Florida Development Director, and provides oversight in 3 regions: Palm Beach and Miami-Dade, as well as her home base, Broward County. Row’s activism began as a volunteer for Equality Florida in 2008 when she tirelessly canvassed voters at the polls on Amendment 2.
Nadine Smith is the co-founder and CEO of Equality Florida, the state's largest organization dedicated to ending discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.
Note: Equality Florida worked with the Florida Independent to highlight the disproportionate impact hate crimes have on Florida's LGBT community. The article also points out that anti-LGBT hate crimes, as a percentage of all hate crimes in Florida, are at there highest level ever.
The US Senate Judiciary Committee is currently hearing the Respect for Marriage Act. The Respect for Marriage Act would repeal the discriminatory Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA).
The hearing is underway, and you can watch it live here.