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Soyara Alcalá A few weeks ago, I had the honor of hosting the screening of "Amores de Mi Vida,” organized by the ACLU of Florida, an audiovisual project where members and supporters of the greater Miami Hispanic LGBT community shared stories of the loves of their lives. When I was invited to participate, I did not hesitate for a second, since I can remember I have actively defended the rights of the LGBT community. This event highlighted the extraordinary qualities of each of the participants, was an audiovisual project that celebrated love in all its forms, as narrated by 26 members of the South Florida community. Listening to the stories of people including Inaugural Poet Richard Blanco, State Representative Jose Javier Rodriguez, Vice-Mayor of the City of Hallandale Beach Alex Lewy, among many others, we were immediately moved by the unifying power of love and respect.

Alan Berger Legislative Assistant, ACLU National Lucille MacBeth, mother of slain Florida teen Jordan Russell Davis, did all she could to keep from crying during her testimony in front of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution earlier this week. After nearly five minutes of testimony, Lucille stopped speaking, looked down and then back up, this time with tears in her eyes: "I'll never get to see my son's prom photo. I never get to hear how much he enjoys his dad's chili. No one else will ever get to know him. He'll never get to join the Marines like he dreamed and all because of guns and the power of these laws. These laws embolden people with hate to take action with that hate." The hearing was to discuss the growth of violence and injustice associated with the "stand your ground" laws on the books in 25 states. Lucille's testimony, along with that of Trayvon Martin's mom, animated a largely academic discussion of the laws that the NAACP lists in their testimony as "the single greatest bringer of angst to our membership."

The 2012 voter purge was like a bad joke – using unreliable government databases, the state of Florida tried to remove people from the voter rolls in the name of fighting voter fraud, but with no actually evidence of voter fraud to be found. The result was a disaster, with elections supervisors describing it as “embarrassing,” “sloppy,” and “disgusting.” Now, to add insult to injury, the state is planning to use the same erroneous databases from last year to make Florida elections the laughing stock of the country again. We don’t trust it, and neither should you: if you or someone you know wrongfully receives notice that you are being removed from the voter rolls, contact the ACLU of Florida for help.