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ACLU Adds Staff for Campaign to Retain Miami-Dade County's Ban on
Discrimination Based on Sexual Orientation
July 19, 2002
MIAMI - With only 53 days left until the vote on whether to retain or repeal the portion of Miami-Dade County's Ordinance barring discrimination based on sexual orientation, the ACLU is stepping up its efforts to persuade Miami-Dade County voters that gays and lesbians in this community deserve the same protections from discrimination that other groups enjoy.
The ACLU has added Anastasia Apa to its staff to coordinate the organization's outreach efforts to urge Miami-Dade voters to vote "No" to discrimination on September 10th and retain the County's three-and-a-half-year-old ban on discrimination based on sexual orientation. A "no" vote against the repeal of the amendment would retain the prohibition on discrimination against gays and lesbians in employment, housing, credit and finance practices and public accommodations. A "yes" vote would repeal the discrimination ban.
Apa worked as a staff intern and project volunteer in the office of Congresswoman Carrie P. Meek. Last year, she assisted Rep. Meek in coordinating the large and successful Emergency HIV/AIDS Summit, held in Miami.
"This is a discrimination issue," Apa said. "Why should what a person does in the privacy of their own home be any basis for stripping them of the basic rights that we all enjoy?
"This is a referendum not on homosexuality, but on whether every person should be judged on the ability to perform a job," added Apa, who was recently named Coordinator of ACLU's No-To-Discrimination Campaign and who will be coordinating ACLU's work with those of the No-To-Discrimination/SAVE Dade campaign. "As diverse as this community is, I don't believe that when the fair-minded citizens of Miami-Dade County go to the polls on September 10th they will vote to turn the clock back and condone discrimination," Apa added.
In 1998, Miami-Dade Commissioners voted to amend the Code of Miami-Dade County and protect gays and lesbians from discrimination. The law amending the Code added sexual orientation to the list of protected categories, including race, color, religion, ancestry, national origin, gender, pregnancy, age, disability, marital status, and familial status.
On May 8, community leaders rallied in support of the anti-discrimination provision by announcing the creation of the "No To Discrimination" Committee led by Miami-Dade County Mayor Alex Penelas and co-chairs Marleine Bastien, of Haitian Women of Miami, Inc., Cristina Saralegui, Spanish-language TV personality, Norman Braman, Chairman of Braman Motors, and local attorney H.T. Smith.
"We're not going to let hate-filled rhetoric overwhelm the majority of Miami-Dade County residents who do not tolerate discrimination," said ACLU Greater Miami Chapter President Lida Rodriguez-Taseff. "We're going all out within the next few weeks to remind voters that if we make it legal to discriminate against one group, we open the door to discrimination against other groups."
Media Contact:
Alessandra Soler Meetze, ACLU-FL
Communications Director, (305) 576-2337
ext. 16 (office) or 786-208-7203 (cell)
