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'My issue is with people who identify with this socio-political movement: 'gay.''Īn Orlando attorney, Stemberger clashed with Saunders as recently as Tuesday, debating LGBT protections at an Orange County School Board meeting that lasted until 1:30 a.m. 'Our issue is not so much with people that have a same-sex attraction,' said John Stemberger, president of the Florida Family Policy Council, a conservative Republican group that advocates against same-sex marriage and adoptions. Groups that oppose same sex marriage say they'll continue that effort, but many deny they have a problem with gay people. I hope that some of the rhetoric will have to change now.'īut activists say the battle will continue. 'The number of times I would have to interview members of the Senate who were highly homophobic and the things that they would say to my face ? I'd have to take it,' Gage said.
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'Such an amazing accomplishment as having out-and-proud members of the Florida House is a sign that 'the times they-are-a-changin'. 'I gave Joe a big, long hug, and promised him that the community was there to help him however he needed it. 'Nobody questioned me when I fell in with the reporter pack to gain access to the House floor,' she blogged afterward. She hadn't been inside the Capitol since leaving that job ? until the day of Saunders' and Richardson's swearing-in. Now a massage therapist and LGBT activist, Gage was for 12 years a public radio reporter. 'It was a moment I'll remember for the rest of my life.' 'It was the first time?a member stood on the floor with their partner,' Saunders wrote. 20 photo of Saunders on the House floor with his partner, Donald Rupe, appeared widely on the Internet after Saunders posted it on his Facebook page. He was the campaign manager for 'Equality is Gainesville's Business,' which prevented the repeal of LGBT protections in 2009.Ī Nov. Saunders is also a veteran of clashes over local ordinances statewide, including a successful effort earlier this week to add LGBT protections for faculty and students in the Orange County schools. Saunders had led the 2008 campaign against Florida's Amendment 2, the constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage and civil union, which passed 62 percent to 38 percent. Joe Saunders, an Orlando Democrat and the field director of Equality Florida, an LGBT advocacy group. 'In this area, people maybe don't care so much about someone's sexual orientation,' he said. He said that for all the voters he met during the campaign, none asked him about his sexual orientation, although it was reported by local news media. Richardson, a 55-year-old forensic accountant, credits redistricting and the open seat in House District 113 for his win.
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Senate and House, and dozens to state legislatures. Nationwide, lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender candidates were elected to the U.S. The 2012 election saw Florida become one of seven states to break that barrier. David Richardson, a Miami Beach Democrat, and one of two openly gay lawmakers elected this year ? the first in Florida's Legislature. 'We've made a lot of progress, but we still have a long way to go,' said Rep. Supreme Court considering same-sex marriage, President Barack Obama re-elected on a platform that included it, and the first openly gay lawmakers taking their seats in Tallahassee, gay voters say it's been a winning year.