Florida Gov. Charlie Crist Comes Out ... With an LGBT Rights Platform

by Adam Amir · 2010-09-14 13:00:00 UTC
Topics:

Charlie Crist, the Florida Governor with a storied history of speculation about his sexuality, has long been an opponent of or ambivalent to LGBT equality in the state of Florida. But according to RawStory.com, Crist's campaign for U.S. Senate has released a document showing that Crist is poised to endorse a slew of rights, protections, and LGBT-friendly pending legislation before Congress.

Charlie Crist is running as the independent in a hotly contested Florida Senate race. Twice elected as the Republican Florida Governor, Crist left the party when it looked as if he would lose to Marco Rubio, a more reactionary candidate with ties to the Tea Party. With Florida's Democratic Senate candidate Kendrick Meek lagging in the polls, the announcement is likely an attempt to woo Florida Democrats and liberal independents.

According to the letter from Crist's campaign, he will support the following gay rights issues:

  • Civil Unions - no mention of gay marriage, but we'll take what we can get, right?

  • Employment Non-Discrimination Act - no specific inclusion of gender identity, but Crist employs the stock argument for ENDA: "employment and advancement should be based on skill and merit, not...by prejudice of any kind."

  • Repealing "Don't Ask Don't Tell"

  • Every Child Deserves a Family Act - would repeal Florida ban on adoptions by gay parents.

  • Federal Safe Schools Improvement Act - a law that would require any district or school receiving federal funding to specifically prohibit bullying and harassment on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity

  • The Domestic Partnership Benefits and Obligations Act - create benefits parity for LGBT federal employees in domestic partnerships, benefits only available to married heterosexual couples.

  • Equal Access to COBRA Act - COBRA extends health insurance benefits after an employee loses their job. The Equal Access Act would extend benefits to the families and spouses of LGBT employees who can currently be denied.

  • Appropriations for HIV/AIDS Programs

  • Uniting American Families Act - Would extend immigration sponsorship benefit to same-sex couples, known as "permanent partners" in the bill.

Photo credit: FLHSMV

Adam Amir is a Harry S. Truman Scholar and recent graduate of the University of Florida. He will work for the New York City Mayor as a part of the Urban Fellows program.
PREVIOUS STORY:
All Signs Point to Gay Marriage as a Winning Battle
NEXT STORY:
Bullied high schooler convinces MPAA to change ‘Bully’ rating to “PG-13”

COMMENTS (5)

    Comment Policy

    · All fields are required to comment.

    [X]

    Comments on Change.org are meant for further exploration and evaluation of the campaign on Change.org. To that end, we welcome constructive comments. However, we reserve the right to delete comments which, as determined solely in our discretion: (1) are offensive, abusive, or off-topic; (2) include content solely intended to personally attack the campaign creator, (3) are designed to subvert or hijack comment threads rather than contribute to them; and/or (4) violate our terms of service and/or privacy policy. Repeat offenders may be permanently removed from the site at our discretion. Please also be advised that: (A) we do not actively curate and/or monitor in any manner whatsoever the comments made on the Change.org platform, and (B) the creator of each campaign on Change.org may remove any comment at her/his/its discretion.