Tag: Florida

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Florida: New poll shows strong support for same-sex marriage

A new poll from Quinnipiac shows a solid majority of Floridians support the freedom to marry:

Florida voters support 56 – 39 percent allowing same-sex couples to marry, with 57 – 39 percent support among women and 55 – 40 percent backing among men. Support is 65 – 31 percent among Democrats and 64 – 30 percent among independent voters, with Republicans opposed 64 – 32 percent. Every age group supports same-sex marriage except voters over 65 years old, who are divided with 45 percent in favor and 49 percent opposed.

The poll also shows former Florida Gov. Charlie Crist (now running as Democrat) leads Republican incumbent Gov. Rick Scott 48 – 38 percent for the upcoming fall election citing strength in leadership and compassion.

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Florida: 73 year-old sex offender accused of setting fire to lesbian couple’s home

Braulio Valenzuela-Villanueva, of Miami, Florida, has been arrested and charged in what appears to be a hate crime against a lesbian couple and their family.

Via NBCMiami.com:

According to the arrest report, Valenzuela-Villanueva had been involved in an ongoing feud with his neighbors that had resulted in several heated arguments.

Tensions allegedly boiled over around 4:25 a.m. Saturday, when Valenzuela-Villanueva set fire to a mattress that was leaning against his neighbor’s trailer, the report said.

The fire consumed the mattress and began to burn the trailer, going undetected for several minutes. The trailer had no smoke detector or fire warning system.

A neighbor’s security system recorded Valenzuela-Villanueva set the fire, but when he was questioned, he didn’t admit to setting it, the report said.

“He stated that he despised the two adult victims for the simple fact that they were lesbians,” the report said. “According to the defendant, every time he saw them kissing he felt a deep repugnance, and in his opinion they did not deserve to have children.”

Valenzuela-Villanueva faces 10 counts of attempted second-degree murder and one count of first-degree arson.

Valenzuela-Villanueva is also, reportedly, a registered sex-offender.

Watch the NBC Miami report below:

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Three states see new lawsuits seeking marriage equality – Arizona, Florida and Indiana

Lots of legal action happening today in the world of marriage equality.

Via press release, Freedom To Marry announces a trio of federal lawsuits concerning marriage protections for same-sex couples filed in three different states today.

The cases – filed in Arizona, Florida, and Indiana – join more than 50 other lawsuits where same-sex couples are seeking the freedom to marry or respect for their marriages performed in other states.

Marriage equality litigation is currently pending in 28 different states, and in seven of these states, appeals are now before federal appellate courts.

Filed today:

ARIZONA

Lambda Legal filed this federal lawsuit – Majors v. Roche – in Arizona on behalf of seven same-sex couples – and the surviving spouses of two other same-sex couples – seeking the freedom to marry or respect for legal marriage licenses received in other states.

The plaintiffs include married same-sex couples, couples who want to marry in Arizona, and individuals whose same-sex spouses have passed away without Arizona ever respecting their status as a married couple. The lead plaintiffs are Nelda Majors and Karen Bailey (pictured), who are both in their 70s and have been together for more than 55 years.

FLORIDA

The American Civil Liberties Union of Florida filed this federal lawsuit – Grimsley and Albu v. Scott – on behalf of SAVE, an LGBT organization in Miami and eight married same-sex couples seeking respect for their marriages legally performed in other states.

The lead plaintiffs are Sloan Grimsley and Joyce Albu, who work as a firefighter and a consultant assisting parents of children with developmental disorders, respectively. The women have been together for nine years, married in New York in 2011, and are raising a 2-year-old child together.

INDIANA

Lambda Legal filed this federal lawsuit – Baskin v. Bogan -on behalf of three same-sex couples seeking the freedom to marry in Indiana.

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Florida: Sharon Gless records video in support of marriage equality

LGBT ally Sharon Gless has recorded a video in support of marriage equality in Florida, where she has had a home for 20 years.

The video is in support of Equality Florida’s Get Engaged campaign, with which Gless has been active for some time. “I can’t imagine what my life would be like if someone told me I couldn’t marry the person I love,” she says in the video. “Yet that is what is going on in the state of Florida every day, when they tell thousands of men and women that they cannot have what want we all want.”

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State of Florida sued over same-sex marriage ban

Florida is now officially the next state to enter the marriage equality fray as 6 couples sue the state over it’s same-sex marriage ban:

Via press release from the National Center for Lesbian Rights:

The lawsuit argues that Florida’s laws barring same-sex couples from marriage violate the United States Constitution by denying them the legal protections and equal dignity that having the freedom to marry provides.

The couples are from Miami and the surrounding area. Four of the couples are raising children, and another couple have an adult child and two grandchildren. The couples are: Catherina Pareto and Karla Arguello; Dr. Juan Carlos Rodriguez and David Price; Vanessa and Melanie Alenier; Todd and Jeff Delmay; Summer Greene and Pamela Faerber; and Don Price Johnston and Jorge Isaias Diaz.

They are represented by the law firm Carlton Fields Jorden Burt, attorney Elizabeth F. Schwartz, attorney Mary B. Meeks, and the National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR).

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Sen. Marco Rubio speaks at anti-gay Florida Family Policy Council fund-raiser

This past weekend, Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) gave the keynote speech at the anti-gay group Florida Family Policy Council’s annual awards dinner.

From the AP report:

“The moral well-being of our nation is our business. It’s everybody’s business,” Rubio said to applause at the Florida Family Policy Council fundraising dinner. “The debate we should be having isn’t whether or not we have a right to talk about values and morals in the public square, the debate we should be having instead is which values and morals our nation should focus on.”

[snip]

The dinner was raising money for the group that led the petition drive to put a gay marriage ban on the state ballot. The constitutional amendment was approved by voters in 2008. Videos shown before and after Rubio spoke showed its president, John Stemberger, speaking against gay marriage, gay scout masters and allowing people who have had sex changes to teach in schools.

Rubio recently voted against the Employment Non-Discrimination Act that would outlaw workplace discrimination against those in the LGBT community.

(via Towleroad)

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Charlie Crist running for Governor of Florida again – as a Democrat

Charlie Crist has served as governor of Florida before, but as a Republican. His party change is due to the extreme right shift of the GOP.

Rumors have flown around for years that Crist is actually gay, but has stayed in the closet due to his Republican ties.

If he is gay, we’ll see if he has the wherewithal to come out.

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Florida: Kaitlyn Hunt accepts plea deal

Kaitlyn Hunt, pictured with her father, has accepted a plea deal regarding felony child abuse charges

Kaitlyn Hunt, an 18-year-old former high school cheerleader who has been in jail since August charged with felony child abuse for a consensual sexual relationship with her then-14-year-old girlfriend, today accepted a plea deal in Vero Beach, Fla., reports WPTV:

The deal accepted this morning by Indian River County Circuit Judge Robert Pegg was agreed to by Hunt’s attorney and assistant state attorney Brian Workman, resulting in a “no contest” plea to five counts in total: two counts of battery, two counts of interference with child custody, and one count of contributing to the dependency of a child, according to a WPTV report. Hunt will be released from jail on December 20.

The victim’s family claims that the charges were brought out of concern for their younger daughter’s safety and what they felt was an inappropriate sexual activity with an older woman. They have stated the same-sex nature of the relationship was note the issue, and that they are not homophobic.

(via Advocate)