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Dolphin Democrat News
Statement from Wasserman Schultz on her cancer diagnosis
U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Weston, just released a statement about her diagnosis and treatment for breast cancer. "A little more than a year ago, after I found a lump in my breast while doing a routine self-exam, my doctor diagnosed me with breast cancer. "After my diagnosis, it seemed like there were a million different decisions I had to make. My doctor's initial recommendation, because I found the lump so early and it was less than a half centimeter, was to simply have the cancer removed, followed by radiation. However, after sitting down with a nurse educator who asked me many, many questions about my personal and family health history, I also decided to have a blood test that would show whether I had a genetic alteration in the BRCA1 or BRCA2 gene. |
This Is What Democracy Looks Like
RALLY IN TALLY
Monday, March 16, 2009
Good afternoon all ye who Rally in Tally!
My name is Michael Emanuel Rajner; a gay man living with AIDS and Director
of HIV/AIDS Education and Policy for the Florida Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and
Transgender Democratic Caucus. I am here today as the voice of the
statewide GLBT caucus of the Florida Democratic Party. I also have the role
and responsibility to acknowledge the courage and great work of many 501c3
organizations that have provided incredible leadership on issues of
equality. My role here today is clearly a partisan role. And I want you to
know we don't only have friends in the Florida State Legislature, but we
have some amazing champions who are willing to stand brave and strong and
bring our fight to the floor of the State House and Senate. Some of our
champions in the legislature are here today with us at today's rally and I
would be remiss to not acknowledge them for their amazing leadership.
As a GLBT community, we need to continue to elect Democrats. It is the
Democratic party providing the leadership on equality and social justice for
ALL FLORIDIANS. When the Florida State Legislature debated the Anti-Bully
legislation, shameful Republicans led the charge to dilute protections for
GLBTQ youth who are disproportionally affected with a greater rate of
bullying than non-GLBTQ youth. Conservative Republicans have continually
been the force to obstruct efforts to ensure protections for communities
whose voice is not represented in the State Legislature. As a trained
social worker, I am here to say it is the Republican Party who marginalizes
people who do not look like them. Their divisive acts are not limited to
groups such as GLBTQ people and people with skin darker than mine or those
who speak a language other than English.
The Florida Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Democratic Caucus salutes
the leadership and courage of organizations like the National Association
for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) who have been lockstep with
the GLBT community in the fight for equality. The African American
community has suffered immense oppression and persecution in our society.
And now, thanks to God, in Barack Obama, we have the first African American
President of the United States of America!
From this platform, I can't begin to share with you how inspiring it is to
see the army of my brothers and sisters mobilizing and ready to engage in
the battle for equality. Many of us know all too well of the pain and
alienation brought about through the systematic disenfranchisement of
communities of human lives indoctrinated in our laws.
Before me is an incredible army with awesome courage and leadership.
Please, turn to your neighbor, and thank that person for their selfless
service and for being active in the movement and being a voice for those
unable to come to the table to fight for social justice.
Last night I spoke with Michael Albetta, President of the Florida GLBT
Democratic Caucus. He wanted to make certain that I share with you that he
spoke with Senator Eleanor Sobel and Senator Chris Smith, and both agree
that "its adoption for all" and a crime that groups who dare use children
without a loving home as a divisive tool to advance their ideology of hate
that encourages discrimination!
Last week while in San Francisco I was waiting for the N Judah train to
visit the National AIDS Memorial Grove, I watch a gay man lovingly hold the
hand his child and only as a father can, taught his child how to cross the
street and avoid danger. I stirred with anger, pain and frustration as I
was haunted with how most Republicans prefer and vote to see children like
that child be passed around in group homes and institutionalized when there
are loving and nurturing homes to care for these children, the leadership of
the Republican Party has placed the needs of our vulnerable society with
minimal priority!
The Florida Legislature can save tax-payers money and help children at the
same time. End the ban on adoption by gay men and lesbians. Help move
children out of foster care and into the homes of loving parents. The vast
majority of states have always allowed gay men and lesbians to adopt, so
this is not a social experiment. It's good for kids, and it will save
taxpayers money – why spend money to support children in foster care when
there are many able parents willing to adopt, and why spend tens of
thousands of dollars defending constitutional court cases, when the state
could be using the same money to actually support children (e.g,. better
funding for education, increased access to healthcare or other services for
children, or reducing the debt so our children will be less burdened by
taxes in the future).
Equality Florida and all their partners are doing an amazing job to mobilize
our statewide community and to demand solutions for all people! Keep up the
great work and continue to inspire the youthful community members to become
involved and be part of the collective voice fighting for equality! Our
involvement and organizing must be strategic and at all levels. The time
has come to end the apathy and complacency, the time has come to gear up for
the great battle before us!
Separate is not equal. As same-sex couples who are legally prohibited to
married, we are denied certain tax credits and have fewer rights than any
other Floridians.
Today, we stand proud and united as a family. As Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and
Transgender community and allies, we must never allow any group or issue to
divide us. There is no equality without the "T".
I must now leave and wish you all well as Nadine Smith and I go into the
Governor's office and meet with his executive staff and urge Governor Crist
to join the 23 states not accepting federal dollars to promote ineffective
"abstinence-only" programs. As an GLBTQ community and single-parent
families, sex-education programs focused on "abstinence-only" fail to
prepare and protect us. As a gay man living with AIDS, I stand before you
as one of the more than 1,200,000 people living with HIV/AIDS in America and
150,000 people living with HIV/AIDS in Florida.
Our death is on the hands of this largely morally corrupt
Republican-controlled legislature. My elected district representatives
Senator Atwater and Representative Bogdanoff will not even return my calls
to engage in legislation on HIV/AIDS and comprehensive sex-education.
Florida, we need inclusive and genuine leadership and we need it now! We
need to take back our government!
Michael Emanuel Rajner |
Support to help pass two very important pieces of legislation
| we call on your support to help pass two very important pieces of legislation. Both proposed bills secure basic human and parental fairness for LGBT people and their families.
ADOPTION Representative Mary Brandenburg's legislation - HB 413 - to repeal the bigoted, discriminatory 32-year-old ban on adoption by gay Floridians has been assigned to four committees. The bill currently is in the Civil Justice & Courts Policy Committee. The first step in moving this important legislation forward is to hold a hearing in the Civil Justice & Courts Policy Committee -- and for the committee to approve the bill. We are asking you to contact the Committee Chair, Rep. Nick Thompson (R-Ft. Myers), and ask him to set a hearing date on HB 413 as soon as possible. We also need you to ask him to support this important legislation as a co-sponsor. His phone number in Tallahassee is 850-488-1541. Please note that Rep. Nick Thompson was the Sponsor of HB 669 in 2008, known as the Jeffrey Johnston Stand Up For All Students Act, which protects all of Florida's students from bullying, including anti-gay harassment. The other Civil Justice & Courts Policy Committee members are: Rep. Mike Weinstein (R) - District 19 - Jacksonville - Phone 850-488-1304(Vice Chair)
Rep. Audrey Gibson (D) - District 15 - Jacksonville - Phone 850- 488-7417
Rep. Michael Scionti (D) - District 58 - Tampa - Phone 850-488-9460 (Ranking Democrat)
Rep. Kevin Ambler (R) - District 47 - Tampa - Phone 850- 488-0275
Rep. Kelli Stargel (R) - District 64 - Lakeland - Phone 850- 488-2270
Rep. Eric Eisnaugle (R) - District 40 - Orlando - Phone 850- 488-9770
Rep. Dorothy Hukill (R) - District 28 - Port Orange - Phone 850- 488-6653
Rep. Adam Fetterman (D) - District 81 - Port St. Lucie - Phone 850- 488-8749
Rep. Tom Grady (R) - District 76 - Naples - Phone 850- 488-4487 Please contact all Representatives that you know or that are in your area. Ask them to contact Rep. Nick Thompson and ask for a hearing as soon as possible. In addition, please ask them to support the bill by becoming a co-sponsor. Click here for a sample letter.
PROTECTION FROM DISCRIMINATION we will also be lobbying elected officials in Tallahassee for support on Sen. Ted Deutch's and Rep. Kelly Skidmore's legislations - SB 2012/ HB 397- that seek to update the Florida Civil Rights Act and Florida's Fair Housing Act to include LGBT individuals and families under its protections. The Florida Civil Rights Act currently covers only race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, handicap or marital status, while Florida's Fair Housing Act covers the same categories, including familial status. The Deutch-Skidmore legislation simply updates Florida's laws covering employment, housing and public accommodations to include sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, pregnancy and familial status. It is still legal in Florida to be discriminated against or even fired for being or perceived to be LGBT in your place of employment. However, recent polls have shown that 89% of Floridians believe that homosexuals should have the same rights in housing, job opportunities, and public accommodations. We urge you to contact your state senator and state representative and ask if they have joined the list of co-sponsors, and encourage them to support this important legislation.
Click here for a sample letter.
To view the web page for the Deutch-Skidmore legislation, which provides a link to the complete text of the bill as well as an updates list of co-sponsors, click here.
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Action Alert on Adoption Bill
Gay and Lesbian Parenting: THE FACTS (1) Florida's gay adoption ban was passed in 1977 at the height of Anita Bryant's anti-gay "Save the Children" campaign. This law has done significant damage to children in foster care by not allowing the best interest of the child to be considered on a case-by-case basis. Curtis Peterson, the lead Senate sponsor, said=2 0upon passage of the ban, "We're trying to send [homosexuals] a message. We're really tired of you. We wish you'd go back into the closet."
(2) Destructive impact on children - over 4,500 children languish in Florida's foster care system today. The adoption ban arbitrarily excludes hundreds, if not thousands, of potential parents based solely on the irrelevant criteria of sexual orientation. These adults could provide stable, loving, PERMANENT homes to many of these children if this ban were lifted.
(3) In 2003, the Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute released a research study, stating, "reality on the ground is outstripping the pace of the debate. That is, a growing number of lesbians and gay men are becoming parents and are living as families every day, irrespective of what the policymakers do or say."
(4) There is no credible scientific evidence that the sexual orientation of parents has any effects either on the quality of parenting or on the well-being of their children. In fact, the reliable social scientific evidence indicates that lesbian and gay parents are as fit, effective and successful at parenting as their heterosexual counterparts. (See American Academy of Pediatrics February 2002 Policy Statement, Vol. 109, No. 2, pp. 341-344)
(5) At least eleven (11) mainstream child welfare, social science, and professional organizations have issued policy statements SUPPORTING adoptio n by lesbian, gay, bisexual and/or transgender (LGBT) people:
Child Welfare League of America American Bar Association
American Medical Association American Academy of Pediatrics
American Psychiatric Association American Psychoanalytical Association
American Academy of Family Physicians American Psychological Association
American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry National Association of Social Workers
North American Council on adoptable Children
(6) Decades of research indicate that optimal development for children is based not on the sexual orientation of the parents, but on stable attachments to committed and nurturing adults. Children with two parents, regardless of the parents' sexual orientation, do better than children with only one parent. (American Psychiatric Association 11/2002 policy statement)
(7) Adoption decisi ons should be based on an individualized assessment of what is in the best interests of the child to be adopted. Applicants should be assessed on the basis of their ability to successfully parent a child in need of family membership and not on irrelevant considerations such as sexual orientation.
(8) Regardless of what policy makers do or say, gay Floridians are raising children and legal protection is necessary for these children. Families have been created by adopting in other states, artificial insemination, previous heterosexual relationships and family tragedies such as the death of a sibling.
2009 LEGISLATIVE SPONSOR UPDATE SB 500 on Adoption
Sponsored by Senator Nan Rich - District 34
Co-Sponsors are
Senator Dan Gelber - District 35
Senator Chris Smith - District 29
Senator Eleanor Sobel - District 31
HB 413 on Adoption
Sponsored by Representative Mary Brandenburg - District 89
Co-Sponsors are
Representative Joseph Abruzzo -20District 85
Representative Ronald Brisé - District 108
Representative Faye Culp - District 57
Representative Joe Gibbons - District 105
Representative Bill Heller - District 52
Representative Evan Jenne - District 100
Representative Rick Kriseman - District 53
Representative Mark Pafford - District 88
Representative Kevin Rader - District 78
Representative Scott Randolph - District 36
Rep. Michelle Rehwinkel Vasilinda - District 9
Representative Kelly Skidmore - District 90
Representative Richard Steinberg - District 106
If you don't see your representative or senator, please give them a call and ask them to sponsor the Adoption bill. To find your representative' s contact info, click here. To find your senator's contact info, click here.
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