News & Commentary

This year, the ACLU of Florida is celebrating its 50th anniversary. That’s half a century of defending the rights and freedoms of Floridians.

This timeline examines some of the most significant cases and historic moments in the history of the organization:

1965 – Founding: In response to the anti-Communist scare of the era, ACLU chapters in Miami, Gainesville and Tampa join together to form the ACLU of Florida. As described in the original 1965 charter, the organization’s mission will be “To uphold the guarantees of freedom of speech, press, assembly, religion, and thought, as provided in the United States Constitution and the Bill of Rights and to uphold the Florida State Constitution and Declaration of Rights; to uphold due process of law and equal protection under the law as provided by the Constitution; to encourage an appreciation of our basic liberties; to perpetuate, through a program of education and positive action, respect and devotion for freedom and liberty.”

By Clark West

After 42+ years together and living in the deep south, my partner and I can finally say we are married.

We never thought we would live to see this day, but we are still here. Meeting at the University of Alabama in 1972, we have kept our love alive all these years.

On June 26, 2015, we shared our joy with so many of our friends that have since become our family. Our biological family members, except for a few of the younger ones, are all quiet. The silence is deafening from Alabama, South Carolina and Louisiana where these family members reside.

On the 26th, we put down the banner carrying the nation's shame and we proudly displayed the flag of power, beauty and love, which is the rainbow flag, designed by Gilbert Baker in the 1970s.

By: Elena McCollough- Coast Guard Veteran, retired after 24 years of service

I came to this wonderful country to live permanently in 1977. I finished High School a couple of years later and the week of my 18th birthday I joined the United States Coast Guard. In the military I learned a great deal about work ethics, met amazing and life time friends, traveled to great places like Virginia, Alaska, Puerto Rico, California, Alabama and finished my career 24 years later in Florida. I am thankful to also have learned that teamwork joins individuals on a common cause and that we are most effective when we all contribute our part.

Even though Florida has been a marriage equality state since January, the landmark decision by the United States Supreme Court that found bans on marriages of same-sex couples unconstitutional under the 14th Amendment has brought even more legitimacy and security to same-sex couples across the state.

"The Supreme Court has affirmed what a majority of Floridians and indeed all Americans have come to understand: that the freedom to marry is a precious and fundamental right that we all share under the Constitution, and that no family should be denied that. We are proud of our colleagues from the two ACLU lawsuits that were among the cases that brought about this decision. But more importantly, we are thrilled for the hundreds of thousands of couples and their families for whom this victory has been decades in the making," said Howard Simon, Executive Director of the ACLU of Florida.

“The Constitution promises liberty to all within its reach . . . .” So begins Justice Kennedy in his majority opinion that history will remember as one of the defining waystations on the road to full justice for the LGBT community. After decades of struggle, the nationwide freedom to marry for same-sex couples is finally being achieved.

The couples, the families, the children, the widows and widowers — today, all of them have been granted a dignity that has been denied to them for far too long. Going forward, the protections and responsibilities — and the joy — that marriage provides to so many will be available to families across the nation.

ACLU in the House!...and Senate.

With the support of your activism, the ACLU of Florida defeated a number of bad bills this legislative session and amended others to minimize the damage to civil rights and liberties in our state. We thank you for exercising your rights and standing up for the constitution. We logged over 15,000 legislative contacts this session, lobbied legislators and committees, and collected 10s of thousands of petition signatures. Here’s what we were able to accomplish at the state capitol for the 2015 legislative session:

By Anthony Siegrist

My name is Anthony. I’m 16 and I live in Clearwater, Florida with my moms and three siblings. I was adopted by my parents when I was 13 years old after having spent four years in foster care.

I heard about the bill that the Florida legislature is now considering that would allow child placing agencies—including those who work with children in the foster care system—to refuse to place children with families if the agencies have religious objections to those families, regardless of the needs of the child.

This bill could have prevented me from having the family I have today had it been in effect when I needed a family.

As we enter the second half of the Florida legislative session, several bills we warned you about continue to advance. Two in particular seem to be getting a lot of traction.

First, Florida is considering a 24 hour waiting period for women seeking an abortion. The bills sponsored by Sen. Anitere Flores (R-Miami) and Rep. Jennifer Sullivan (R-Eustis) require a woman to make two trips to a facility at least 24 hours apart in order to give a woman time to “reflect” upon her decision to have an abortion. This bill imposes many hardships on women and is not medically necessary.

In the last two weeks, Florida legislative committees have voted to: ban trans people from public bathrooms; release your private electronic data after you die; hide evidence from police body cameras from the public; allow adoption agencies to use their beliefs as a reason to keep kids from gay, single, mixed-faith or other families; and insert themselves between a woman seeking an abortion and her doctor.

Can civil rights and liberties get a break in this state?