As I’ve previously mentioned, Miami-Dade county passed an anti-discrimination ordinance which included a clause listing sexual orientation as a protected group (in addition to gender, race, religion, etc.). In simple terms, this means that you can’t deny someone housing, employment, or banking based solely on their sexual orientation. Seems like a no-brainer, right?< ?p?>
Predictably the reactionary right-wing types in the Christian Coalition (through their puppet group, Take Back Miami-Dade) are fighting to repeal this clause, to legalize discrimination. They successfully held a petition drive to put a referendum on the September ballot to “let the voters decide” if they want this. Of course, the “voters” will be heavily influenced by the truckloads of money the anti-gay lobbies will pour into televising outright lies and deception; after all, during the petition drive they went to the Spanish-speaking communities and told the voters that they were signing a petition to protect and support the Boy Scouts, while the petition itself (written in English, of course), told the real story. That’s why I’ve been doing some work to support SaveDade, the local group fighting them.
Much to my surprise and delight, the notoriously self-serving political machine in Miami is actually taking a stand on the right correct side of the issue. A group of leaders, including three city mayors, a wildly popular Latin TV personality, a prominent Haitian activist, and the county mayor, held a press conference yesterday to denounce the movement to legalize discrimination. (Here’s the Miami Herald article.) Of course the CrisCos fought back immediately, calling the anti-discrimination leaders “an embarrassment to our community” and accusing them of “betraying our children.”< ?p?>
This joker did provide me, for the first time in the last thirty years, with a clear cut goal in life. When I grow up I want to be one of the “well-financed, politically connected multisexualist extremists.” I love it! But, can anyone tell me what “multisexualist” means? Google doesn’t have a single record matching it, and I can’t find it in any dictionaries, either. Doesn’t it sound cool, though?
