FLORIDA DIGEST - March 19, 2009

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~~FLORIDA GLBT NEWS~~


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From Transgender Equality
Contact rays.list@comcast.net for the full article

-We are organizing two marches, Friday, March 20, and Monday, March 23, underway at 5:30, in opposition to Gainesville charter amendment 1. The Friday march will begin at the swimming-pool parking lot at Westside Park and will move east along the sidewalk on NW 8th Avenue to the boardwalk and back. Total distance is 6/10 of a mile. The Monday walk will launch from the UF Plant Facility parking lot (open parking after 4:30) on Radio Road just a few feet off SW 34th St. We will walk south along the sidewalk on 34th St to Hull Road and back. Total distance is approximately 1/2 mile. We did a trial run last week with should-born, stroller-bound, walking, skipping, chatting kids and parents on 8th Avenue and generated a lot of positive horn honking. This march is not for families only. All are welcome, and the more people the more impressive the march. We want to get press attention for this. Bring your "Vote No" yard signs to carry or create your own. Finally, please pass this email around to drum up participants. Canvassers have told me the vote is going to be close. Thanks and see you there.
Jack E. Davis
Associate Professor
Department of History
University of Florida
http://www.clas.ufl.edu/users/davisjac/


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Lambda Legal invites you to help spread the word about ways we are making the case for equality!
Join us for one or more of these Pride season events:
....Pridefest South Florida at Ft. Lauderdale - Saturday and Sunday, March 21-22
....Pridefest of the Palm Beaches at Lake Worth - Saturday and Sunday, March 28 -29
...Miami Beach Gay Pride Festival at Miami Beach - Saturday, April 18
...AIDS Walk Miami - Sunday, April 19
And be sure to join us at our information booth where you can take away fun and educational Lambda Legal materials! We especially like to be joined by members and supporters like you. Each year over one hundred volunteers make it possible for us to attend Prides all across the country! If you want to help out at the Lambda Legal booth please RSVP to Simone Bell or call 404-897-1880. Please indicate when you are available. We'll then email you details about where and when to meet us. Visit Lambda Legal's Pride Central for details.
http://www.lambdalegal.org/take-action/campaigns/lambda-legal-pride-central/lambda-legal-pride-central.html


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From LGBTQ Equality
Today, we are making public the Equality & Religious Freedom Act Proposal(Omnibus Equality Bill). This is important because we believe that we need to have a concrete proposal (in terms of an actual bill) to ask for our rights all at once. We have created a mini site ("Blueprint for LGBT Equality") where you can:
- Download the most recent version of the proposed bill.
- See in detail the pros and cons of such a bill (with detailed FAQ).
- Review the status of all the current incremental LGBT legislation (including noting if a particular incremental legislation falls short of the ideal). Here is the link:
www.eQualityGiving.org/Blueprint-for-LGBT-EqualityOur position is that we should pursue both incremental bills as well as an Omnibus Equality Bill. Feel free to write about this proposed bill as well as distribute the above link to your lists. Let me know if you have any questions via email or cell (305) 924-1515.
Juan Ahonen-Jover, Ph.D.
cofounder, www.eQualityGiving.org
The Online Donor Community
for LGBTQ Equality


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GLCCSF - Ft. Lauderdale
Community Meetings/Events
..OUT GIRLS MOVIE NIGHT - Friday, March 27, 7:00PM, "Affinity" Not your average women's prison flick. Stonewall Library, 1300 East Sunrise Blvd.
..DR. ANN MODY LEWIS - Saturday, March 28, 2:00 pm. Stonewall will host a lecture by psychotherapist and writer Dr. Ann Mody Lewis. Dr. Lewis will be speaking about her new book "Me, Again: The Untold Story of Every Woman's Life." For further information, please call 954-763-8565. 1300 East Sunrise Boulevard, Fort Lauderdale, FL
..P-FLAG MEETING - April 9, 7:00PM, PFLAG promotes the health and well-being of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender persons, their families and friends. Sunserve, 1480 SW Ninth Avenue, Fort Lauderdale, 33315, 1st floor, 1st door. PFLAG meets the 2nd Thursday of each month.


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WANT TO HELP PROMOTE THE AIDS WALK?
ASK US FOR PLEDGE FORMS AND POSTERS FOR YOUR BUSINESS.
Pledge forms and posters are available. If you need pledge forms or event posters for your business or would like to help distribute to local merchants, churches or your local hangout, please contact Carlos Rodriguez at crodriguez@careresource.org or 305-576-1234 x 257. Trying to get others at work to participate with you and need help with your membership drive? AIDS Walk Miami representatives are available to come to your company to help recruit your team members. Create your own donation web page directly through the www.aidswalkmiami.org web site and add pictures, graphics, company logos, poems or links to your myspace, facebook or favorite web page. By using the web site features, you can email your friends and family with a link directly to your personal web page and obtain reports on who has donated. AIDS Walk Miami is a 5K walk-a-thon starting at 9:00 AM from the Miami Beach Botanical Gardens, taking a scenic route through the commercial heart of Miami Beach, along the ocean, down Lincoln Road and back to the Miami Beach Botanical Gardens. The walk is followed by an exciting post-walk celebration with entertainment sponsored by MTV Latin America featuring DJ Mauricio Parra, performance by Elastic Bond, COURTESY OF MTV LATIN AMERICA & CYLOOP.COM; Sean Ensign and Ana Cristina; an amazing day of fun for the entire family. Visit our sponsors, relax with a free massage provided by Miami-Dade College School of Massage, enjoy food, drinks and more.

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Steve Rothaus
http://miamiherald.typepad.com/gaysouthflorida/
Go to this link for the following articles:

-VisitBritain launches new campaign for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender travelers
News release from VisitBritain, which markets Britain as a tourist destination to the rest of the world:
Focus is on individuality, diversity of Britain's gay scene VisitBritain knows that LGBT travelers come in every color of the rainbow. Some visit new places to taste exotic local cuisines. Others go for the culture, and spend hours exploring museums and galleries. And some do their sightseeing at night, searching for the best dance club. Whatever their motivation, not all travelers are after the same thing in a destination, which is why VisitBritain, the national tourist office for England, Scotland and Wales, is launching its new campaign partnered with Visit Manchester, the tourist board for greater Manchester. Visitors to visitbritain.com/rainbow can pick the persona they most identify with and plan a whole trip on their particular interest, allowing for maximum fun in fabulous Britain.
http://miamiherald.typepad.com/gaysouthflorida/


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Miami Herald
http://www.miamiherald.com/
Go to the links for the following articles:

-Lift Florida's gay adoption ban
OUR OPINION: Bill allows judges to decide based solely on child's best interests
The fundamental unfairness and illogic of Florida's ban on gay adoptions gets more obvious with every new legal assault on it. The ban has been found unconstitutional in two state court circuits and is the target of two new bills in the Legislature. Whether the Florida Supreme Court will agree that the ban is unconstitutional, or lawmakers will come to their senses this year and end the ban isn't clear. But when momentum for a just cause reaches this point, it is only a matter of time until fairness prevails. We wish that day would come sooner rather than later. The ban hurts Florida's foster children most. Florida is the only state with a complete ban on gay and lesbian adoptions of foster children. But the state thinks it's fine for them to be foster parents. This hypocritical policy means the state considers a gay couple's home perfectly fit for foster kids but not good enough for giving that child a permanent, stable, loving life. Sen. Nan Rich, D-Weston, has introduced two bills that, in separate ways, would overturn the ban approved by the Legislature in 1977. The first bill would repeal the law. The second would require judges to determine adoptions based solely on what is in the best interest of the child. This is so reasonable that it should be impossible for any lawmaker to reject it. Unfortunately, politics still trumps common sense when it comes to issues involving homosexuality in Florida. While the private sector has kept up with changing times by offering partner benefits, for example, the public sector is still hampered by political expediency.
It is time for lawmakers to put Florida's foster children before politics.
http://www.miamiherald.com/opinion/editorials/story/957197.html

-Lawmaker seeks to legalize adoption by gays in Florida
Florida's gay-adoption ban will now face two challenges: one in a Miami appeals court, the other in the state Legislature.
BY CAROL MARBIN MILLER
As gay-rights advocates and religious groups queue up in an effort to influence the outcome of a Miami appeals court case that will help decide whether gay people can adopt children in Florida, a state lawmaker has quietly introduced two bills that could render the dispute moot.
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/miami-dade/story/945660.html


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Fort Report
http://www.fortreport.com/
Go to the links for the following articles:

-Bestiality + gay adoption = Daily Show for Nan Rich
Sen. Nan Rich, a Weston Democrat who's trying to outlaw bestiality and lift a ban on gay adoption, has earned a spot on the Daily Show, she tells us. Rich said she's scheduled to be interviewed in her office in the coming days. More on the gay-adoption ban here

~~FLORIDA GENERAL NEWS~~

Sun-Sentinel
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/
Go to the links for the following articles:

-Hospice by the Sea officials: Chaplain wrong about ban on use of 'God'
By Howard Goodman
In two written statements Wednesday, Hospice by the Sea disputed claims that it banned the use of the word "God" in some secular settings. "There is absolutely no change to the way we and our chaplain corps cares for our patients; nor has there been any directive, implicit or implied, that restricts chaplains from referring to God," Paula J. Alderson, president and CEO, said in one statement.
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/palmbeach/sfl-flphospice0319pnmar19,0,2100931.story

-South Florida families march in Tallahassee to protest school cuts
Education deficit is $3 billion
By Josh Hafenbrack
Hoisting signs, a vocal and angry assembly of several thousand parents, students and school officials jammed the capitol Wednesday to protest slashed education spending with a simple mantra: No more cuts.
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/broward/sfl-031909-educationcutsrally,0,5138691.story


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Fort Report
http://www.fortreport.com/
Go to the links for the following articles:

-How bad is it? Orange schools in $240 million hole
'Everything is on the table' for savings, leaders say
Erika Hobbs
The budget sinkhole for Orange County schools has grown to a staggering $240 million for next school year as sales- and property-tax revenue continue heir historic free fall. Until this week, school leaders in the country's 11th-largest district were projecting $102 million to $125 million in cuts.
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/orange/orl-asec-schools-031909,0,2933215.story?track=rss

-Crist skips PTA rally to tout spending in Duval
By David Hunt
As educators descended on Tallahassee to demonstrate for better school funding, Gov. Charlie Crist was in Jacksonville promising a better tomorrow through the state's share of federal stimulus funding. The governor made stops Wednesday at an employment agency and the city's Blount Island Marine Terminal before taking questions from a crowd of a few hundred people at Mayport Naval Station.
http://www.jacksonville.com/news/metro/2009-03-19/story/crist_skips_pta_rally_to_tout_spending_in_duval

-Crist defends his stimulus math
For more than a week, when reporters bring up the budget deficit, Gov. Charlie Crist quickly reminds us that the state has $13.4b in stimulus money. But that money is to be spread out over three years, and legislative budget writers say only $3.5b of it can be used to plug the deficit next year. Is Crist misleading, confusing the issue? The gov responds here.
http://blogs.tampabay.com/buzz/2009/03/crist-defends-his-stimulus-math.html

-$9 billion estimate for Everglades work has 'no credibility,' supporter of U.S. Sugar deal says
By PAUL QUINLAN
Forget $3 billion, $4 billion or even $5 billion. It could cost the South Florida Water Management District as much as $9.1 billion to make use of the 180,000 acres of farmland that Gov. Charlie Crist has proposed buying from U.S. Sugar Corp. to save the Everglades, according to a consultant's report commissioned by opponents of the deal.
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/localnews/content/local_news/epaper/2009/03/18/0318ussugar.html


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