Florida Politics - Campaigns & Elections. Lobbying & Government.

Keith MorelliJune 15, 2016

With the outpouring of support in Orlando, the nation and the world over the massacre of 49 innocent victims inside a nightclub over the weekend, an undercurrent of hatred and ignorance bubbled to the surface across the social media spectrum. The vitriol stretched the First Amendment right of everyone in this country to freedom of […]

Keith MorelliJune 13, 2016

Equality Florida, the state’s lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender civil rights group, has raised more than $1.6 million over a single day in a GoFundMe account set up Sunday for the survivors and families of victims of the Pulse nightclub shooting in Orlando over the weekend. Forty-nine club patrons and the gunman were killed and […]

Peter SchorschJune 12, 2016

At a news conference Sunday afternoon, LGBT community leaders in the Orlando area gathered at The LGBT Center of Central Florida to stand in solidarity with the victims of the mass shooting at the Pulse nightclub early Sunday morning. They also made it a point to stand against hatred and bigotry of any kind. Led […]

Jenna Buzzacco-FoersterJune 12, 2016

Equality Florida said it is making no “heartbroken and angry” about a mass shooting at an Orlando nightclub. In a statement Sunday morning, Equality Florida said it was “reeling from the tragic news” that a gunman opened fire at Pulse Orlando, a popular gay dance club in Orlando. According to the Associated Press, a gunman […]

A.G. GancarskiMay 18, 2016

Charles Van Zant, the Clay County school district’s superintendent, sounded a note of defiance this week in response to the Barack Obama administration linking Title IX funding with permitting transgender students to use the restroom that corresponds with their gender identity. “This directive from the Obama administration does not carry the force of law, and you can […]

Mitch PerryMay 9, 2016

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Six different advocacy groups are pushing back on the Marion County School Board, two weeks after the group passed a measure that would restrict students’ access to school bathrooms based on their birth sex, not gender identity. “The Marion County School Board’s hasty passage of a discriminatory policy prohibiting schools from treating transgender students equally is […]

Drew WilsonApril 21, 2016

The political committee for LGBT rights organization Equality Florida announced Thursday it is endorsing Democrat Andrew Korge in the Senate District 39 race. “This a race where the contrast is crystal clear,” Equality Florida Action PAC Chair Stratton Pollitzer said. “For 10 years Anitere Flores has opposed LGBT equality at every turn and she has […]

Mitch PerryMarch 21, 2016

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After the June 2015 U.S. Supreme Court ruling in the Obergefell v. Hodges case that legalized same-sex marriage nationwide, more than 20 state legislatures reacted by passing religious freedom laws to protect clergy. This month, Florida became the latest state to do so after Gov. Rick Scott signed the Pastor Protection Act. The new law shields religious entities […]

Melissa RossMarch 7, 2016

Activists fighting the decades-long struggle for LGBT equality in America have long been skilled at the long game. From the 1969 Stonewall riots to the 2015 nationwide legalization of same-sex marriage, this is a patient movement, one that has nudged the culture inexorably over a half-century toward greater acceptance and inclusion. To that end, the Jacksonville Coalition for Equality […]

Staff ReportsMarch 2, 2016

The Florida House voted 82-37 to approve an amended version of a bill (HB 43) that protects clergy members and pastors who refuse to perform gay marriage. The bill was amended Tuesday and some gay rights organizations have dropped their opposition to it. Carlos Guillermo Smith, governmental affairs manager for Equality Florida, said in a […]

Tag: Equality Florida

As support mounts for Orlando victims, undercurrent of hate surfaces on social media

Equality Florida raises $1.6M on GoFundMe page for Orlando shooting victims

Orlando LGBT leaders stand in solidarity against violence, bigotry, hatred after shooting

Equality Florida ‘heartbroken and angry’ about shooting at Orlando LGBT club

Equality Florida to mobilize against Clay County school district bathroom policy

Six advocacy groups call on Marion County School Board to reverse controversial ‘bathroom bill’

Equality Florida endorses Andrew Korge in SD 39 race

Florida’s Pastor Protection Act doesn’t go as far as Georgia’s — and that’s a good thing for NFL fans

Jax Coalition for Equality keeps up the HRO pressure

Capitol Reax: “Pastor Protection” act, Miami-Dade Infectious Disease Elimination Act