A.G. Gancarski
During the 2015 Jacksonville campaign, District 7 Councilman Reggie Gaffney was identified by the Florida Family Action PAC as opposing the Human Rights Ordinance applying to LGBT people.
Turns out the PAC got it wrong.
“On the issue of the HRO Councilman Gaffney believes in equality,” Gaffney posted to his Facebook page on Monday.
“The mailer that was sent to you during the campaign was not by the Reggie Gaffney campaign but a PAC group. Councilman Gaffney does believe in marriage as we have known it for years. But has done lots of home work on the HRO and knows by not passing it hurts business,” Gaffney added.
It is unclear why he did not repudiate the mailer in a more timely manner.
Reggie is the second Gaffney to have a unclear HRO position. His brother Johnny Gaffney was the deciding vote against the measure in 2012. When endorsing Lenny Curry in 2015, Johnny Gaffney, who had claimed he was “confused” when he voted against the measure in 2012, claimed he had been pressured to go against the bill by then-mayor Alvin Brown.
“There was pressure to not vote for it,” Gaffney said in May, echoing allegations made by Denise Lee to Florida Politics that rumors were that Mayor Brown pushed Gaffney not to vote for it, that rumors were that “Johnny Gaffney was pressured to change his mind”, and that rumors said that Brown would veto it if it passed (an echo of persistent rumors since 2012).
“Whether you’re for it or not for it, be transparent. Was the administration transparent?”
With Reggie Gaffney declaring support for the HRO, the path to passage seems a little more open, though nothing is certain in Dirty Duval until the matter hits the council floor.
Gaffney did not specify whether he backs a fully inclusive HRO, which would apply to the transgendered.
Gaffney’s evolution on the issue speaks to the effect of the campaign of his First Election opponent James Eddy, who lacked in funding but consistently addressed human rights issues throughout his campaign in a crowded field.
