Home » Our Issues
Lesbian & Gay Rights
Overview: Equality for LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender) Community
- Repeal the ban on gay adoptions
- Fight to eliminate marriage discrimination from the Florida Constitution
- Protect domestic partnership benefits
- Fight discrimination and harassment of gay youth
-web.jpg)
The struggle of lesbians and gay men for equal rights has moved to the center of the American stage. At no time in our nation's history have gay people been more visible: Lesbians and gay men are battling for their civil rights in Congress, in the State Legislatures, in courtrooms and in the court of public opinion; well-known figures such as Rosie O'Donnell are discussing their sexual orientation in public, gay characters are featured in movies and on prime time television shows. More Americans today than ever before are aware of the concerns and needs of lesbians and gay men.
Despite these advances into the mainstream, gays and lesbians continue to face real discrimination in all areas of life, especially here in Florida. Only Florida prohibits qualified people from providing adoptive homes for children if the adoption applicant is gay. The ACLU of Florida and the National ACLU Lesbian and Gay Rights Project is currently challenging this discriminatory ban, which is based largely on hostility toward gays and lesbians. In 2002, religious extremists launched a campaign to repeal an ordinance in Miami-Dade County that protected people from discrimination based on sexual orientation. Dade voters rejected the effort to overturn the human rights law, thanks in-part to the lobbying efforts of the ACLU of Florida and other gay rights organizations.
Working with our allies in the civil and human rights movement, the ACLU of Florida also worked for the passage of anti-discrimination laws in Orlando, Sarasota, and St. Petersburg, and is part of an effort to enact a broad anti-discrimination ordinance in Collier County. The ACLU of Florida also went to court to help defend the City of Gainesville's domestic partner arrangement for city employees from legal challenge.
We must continue to remain vigilant by defending gay rights laws that protect against discrimination and by lobbying in favor of domestic partnership policies in cities and towns across the state.
Above you'll find lesbian and gay rights issues separated by various categories. Click on your issue of interest for press releases, legal documents and additional information on how you can help defend the rights of gay people.
Download a wallet-size Know Your Rights card for students here!
