A.G. Gancarski
J.R. Gaillot, one of three Democratic challengers to embattled incumbent Reggie Fullwood in the House District 13 race in Jacksonville, on Monday “called on the mayor and every member of the Jacksonville City Council to support Tommy Hazouri’s HRO bill.”
Though the bill isn’t slated to be reintroduced until after the Aug. 30 pension tax referendum, the Fleming Island Democrat called it “the right thing to do,” adding that “the fact that someone can get fired and openly be discriminated against because of their sexual orientation is akin to a modern-day Jim Crow.”
Gaillot went on to say “the Orlando tragedy is on the hands of every Republican legislator who has fought against the rights of LGBTQ.”
Meanwhile, “the black community needs to stand up for what is right and stop ‘being on the down low’ when it comes to human rights issues. We have suffered enough, and still face countless challenges today in education, housing, banking, lending, and jobs.”
From there, the press release pivoted toward commentary on Ken Adkins, a inflammatory anti-HRO preacher from Brunswick who improbably took center stage in Jacksonville’s HRO expansion debate.
“No one wants to be discriminated against but we need real leadership, not someone who adds bishop by their name and is obviously conflicted between his responsibilities as a ‘religious leader’ and his allegiance to hateful Republican rhetoric. Mayor Curry needs to assure us that [the city’s] relationship with the very happy Kenneth Adkins is terminated and that there are no backroom deals going on.”
Mayor Lenny Curry forcefully repudiated Adkins’ rhetoric last week, as first reported by FloridaPolitics.com.
“It is time for Mayor Curry to ask every council member to back the HRO and lead Jacksonville in the right direction,” Gaillot continued, before attacking the “Jacksonville political machine that has failed the people of District 13 over the last 13 year[s].”
