A.G. Gancarski
During her campaign for Jacksonville’s City Council, Republican Anna Brosche represented what many moderates and liberals thought was a new type of Republican. Her enthusiasm for expanding the Human Rights Ordinance to the LGBT community delighted many Democrats who were appalled by the atavistic position taken by then-incumbent Kim Daniels, who described the HRO as a “very bad bill” that was “supported by some of the meanest people that [she] ever met.”
Brosche received some surprising support from certain quarters of the community, including from Equality Florida, which lauded her victory as a function of the group’s “historic voter mobilization.”
“In perhaps the most closely watched race for pro-equality voters, human rights ordinance supporter Anna Brosche cruised to victory over Kimberly Daniels, one of the most outspoken opponents of new nondiscrimination protections,” Equality Florida wrote in a press release describing its “multifaceted program that included 95,000 pieces of mail reaching over 30,000 households; over 30,000 phone calls; over 8,000 doors knocked, and thousands of conversations with Jacksonville voters at over 50 community events and forums.”
Brosche took a lot of heat from the local GOP. Some insiders groused about Brosche proclaiming herself a “straight ally” early on. Yet by the time the runoff election approached and Brosche and Daniels participated in a Tiger Bay Forum, the Republican’s advocacy for the HRO had waned.
Calling the 2012 bill “flawed” and that “words do matter,” Brosche moved her rhetoric to the Duval GOP mainstream. She cited the need to “make sure not one person is discriminated against” while protecting the interests of “religious institutions, the faith-based community, and small businesses.”
Since the election, Brosche has been muted on the subject of the HRO. When I interviewed her after the election, the then Councilwoman-Elect said that “the HRO was definitely a topic of interest in the race, one that more to do with Kim Daniels and how vocal she had been in the process in 2012.”
Questions have swirled since among some in the activist community, especially among Democrats who crossed party lines to vote for her. Brosche’s non-participation in the Equality Florida gala on September 26 will likely not end them.
Though another newly elected Republican Councilman, Aaron Bowman, joins his Democratic colleagues Tommy Hazouri and Joyce Morgan on the host committee, Brosche is conspicuous by her absence.
I asked Brosche why she chose not to participate, and she cited a “personal conflict” that precluded both her participation on the host committee and her attendance of the gala.
Meanwhile, Equality Florida claimed that “Anna’s staff let us know that she was extremely busy and would not be participating on any event committees at this time – which while always a little disappointing is not an uncommon response for us to receive.”
There are those on the #jaxpol scene who counted Brosche as a sure fire vote for the inevitable HRO revival. While she has said nothing to indicate that her position has reversed, it is clear that an evolution of some yet-t0-be-determined significance is underway.
