University of Florida Students Oppose Discriminatory Ballot Measure

by Michael Jones · 2009-02-18 05:41:00 UTC
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Ballot MeasureBy now many know that the first LGBT rights issue to hit the ballot box this year will be in Gainesville, Florida, with a scheduled March 24 vote on whether the city should keep an anti-discrimination ordinance that includes sexual orientation and gender identity among its protections.  If the measure, officially known as Charter Amendment 1, wins a majority of the vote on 3/24, the protections for sexual orientation and gender identity will both be repealed in Gainesville -- meaning that if the ballot measure wins, discrimination will essentially become legal in the city.

Yesterday, the University of Florida's student government came together to vote on a resolution opposing Charter Amendment 1.  It passed unanimously, with all student government senators condemning the ballot initiative as bigoted and discriminatory.

Per the Independent Florida Alligator, Garrett Garner (University of Florida Campus Coordinator for the group Equality is Gainesville's Business) had this to say:

If [Charter Amendment 1] passed it would make it legal to fire [people] from their job, kick them out of their house or refuse them service in a restaurant because they are gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgendered.

That's exactly what is at question here - whether it is permissable for a community to fire gays and lesbians, through them out of a restaurant, or evict them from an apartment.  And that's the question that Gainesville voters will have to decide when they hit the polls on March 24.

Gainesville's Mayor, Pegeen Hanrahan, as well as the University of Florida Faculty Senate are already on the books opposing Charter Amendment 1.  Now University of Florida student government joins their ranks.  For more information on this ballot initiative, see our 5 questions series with Robert Prather, a member of Equality is Gainesville's Business.

Michael Jones is a Change.org Editor. He has worked in the field of human rights communications for a decade, most recently for Harvard Law School.
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