West Palm Beach acts to ban retailer discrimination

 
City acts to ban retailer discrimination

By Tony Doris Palm Beach Post Staff Writer 

 

The impetus came from calls to the Palm Beach County Human Rights Council from young black men, that shopkeepers would follow them around stores or demand extra ID. The nickname for their assumed offense: "Shopping while Black." 

The gay and lesbian community also felt the sting of wedding cake bakers or photographers who refused to serve them.    

The push-back came Monday night with a unanimous final vote of the city commission: an amendment to West Palm Beach's human rights law, banning discrimination by an expanded list of "public accommodations," from restaurants and bars to schools, bakeries, hotels, theaters, spas, gyms and any other "establishment, service, place or building which offers, sells or otherwise makes available any good, service, facility, privilege or advantage."    

The amendment, approved without discussion, followed the passage of a similar change to Palm Beach County's law.  

 

"It's the biggest expansion in civil rights in the city and county in decades," Rand Hoch, president of the Human Rights Council, said Tuesday.    

Hoch said he is working with Sen. Joe Abruzzo, D-Wellington, to propose a state law with the same prohibitions. Florida laws are "really bad, really primitive" and may take years to change, he said.    

West Palm adopted its Equal Opportunity Ordinance in 1994 and has updated it from time to time. But the city law was modeled after civil rights legislation that dated from the 1960s and that focused on lunch counters, hotels, and bars and theaters but didn't reflect the changing face of discrimination, Hoch said.    

"All these years since then, when they've tweaked them, they've never really looked where discrimination was taking place. And it's taking place almost everywhere business occurs... We saw nothing in the laws in Palm Beach County that dealt with consumer racism," Hoch said.    

Now, he says, whether you're a black customer or a gay couple and someone says they are not going to bake your wedding cake, "that's illegal," Hoch said.   

It took about eight months for the city and county to consider and research the proposed changes. There was little resistance from the business community, he said. Extending those protections statewide could take three or four years, he said.   

The West Palm amendment represents the county's 101st legal change that deals with LGBT rights, by his count.    

"As a civil rights lawyer, this is one of the things I'm most proud of having West Palm Beach do, because it covers so many people." 

West Palm Beach To Expand Equal Opportunity Law

Florida Agenda
October 14, 2015

WEST PALM BEACH–At Tuesday evening’s meeting of the West Palm Beach City Commissioners, they voted unanimously to expand the civil rights of minorities and women by amending the definition of “public accommodations” to include retail stores, schools, day care and senior centers, medical offices, funeral homes, bakeries, laundromats and virtually all other places of business within city limits. The County Commission unanimously adopted the same definition last month.

Both actions were taken at the request of  the Palm Beach County Human Rights Council (PBCHRC), the County’s most prolific civil rights organization. Over the past twenty-five years, PBCHRC has succeeded in having local public officials enact more than 95 antidiscrimination laws and policies.

“When the local civil rights ordinances were (originally) enacted decades ago, elected officials focused only on those places where discrimination was most blatant – hotels, restaurants, bars and movie theaters,” said Rand Hoch, PBCHRC’s President and Founder.  “Unfortunately, discrimination is more widespread. Initially, our goal was to address consumer racism,” said Hoch, a retired judge.

The experience of people of color being refused service or given poor service  – known as “shopping while Black”  – is not uncommon.  Black customers are also frequently followed by store clerks, wrongly detained, steered away from certain products, and asked for additional forms of identification regarding credit applications.

“Allowing businesses to choose their clients based on prejudice deprives Americans of the freedom to walk into businesses that appear to be open to the general public and be treated equally,” said West Palm Beach City Commission President Sylvia Moffett. “If you hang out a shingle and get a license to do business, you should be required to provide the same service to all consumers.”

Lesbian and gay couples are also targets of public accommodation discrimination.

Since same-sex marriage has become legal, a handful of companies in the wedding industry in Colorado, Indiana, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Vermont and Washington have refused to provide services to gay and lesbian couples.

“Across America, gay and lesbian couples planning their weddings are now being refused service solely because of their sexual orientation,” said Hoch. “Under our new local ordinances, if a baker refuses to provide a cake for a gay couple’s wedding, he may be required to defend his discriminatory practices in court.”

While a majority of states have long prohibited discrimination of any kind in retail establishments, Florida is not one of them.  Therefore, the Palm Beach County Human Rights Council has asked State Senator Joseph Abruzzo (D-Wellington) to include the expanded definition of public accommodations in Senate Bill 120, a statewide civil rights bill he is sponsoring in the 2016 legislative session.
 

Palm Beach Post Editorial: Palm Beach County takes smart step forward on civil rights

Tuesday, Oct. 6, 2015



The Palm Beach County Commission has done a very fine thing by voting, 6-0, to expand human rights protections to those who patronize a wide range of businesses.

The vote on Sept. 22 to extend the county’s longstanding anti-discrimination law well beyond hotels, restaurants and theaters was an act of basic decency. It was also shrewd economics. A county that promotes itself as a tourist destination should signal that people of all sorts are welcome.

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             Rand Hoch 

 

We wouldn’t want to become the next Indianapolis, which saw its progressive image shaken when the Indiana Legislature passed a “religious freedom” law that was a thinly disguised swipe at gay people. It was that city’s business community that frantically pushed for that law to be rolled back.

More fundamentally, we applaud the County Commission for taking a stand that expresses our best sense of community. We want it known that we reject the notion that it’s OK to harass black youth in department stores or deny dental service to a would-be patient wearing a hijab.

Rand Hoch, founder and president of the Palm Beach County Human Rights Council, called the commission’s vote the most significant civil rights law in the county in a couple of decades — especially as there is no statewide law covering discrimination in retail stores.

+

County commissioners at a meeting in January.

It’s one measure of how far we’ve come in this respect that it didn’t feel much like a landmark. It barely registered in the news. Yet only a generation or two ago, battles over equal access to places of public accommodation tore much of the nation apart.

This is a county peppered with “Whites Only” signs, until those were consigned to history by the civil rights movement’s victories of the 1960s.

In 1973, Palm Beach County made it illegal to discriminate on the basis of race in hotels, motels and restaurants. Over the years, the protected classes were expanded to include religion, national origin, disability, marital status, age, sexual orientation and gender identity or expression, as well.

But the ordinance was confined to places of lodging, food service or entertainment. Now, the definition of public accommodations includes retail stores, schools, day care and senior centers, medical offices, funeral homes, bakeries, laundromats, Palm Beach International Airport — just about every place of business in the county.

The Human Rights Council pushed for the law because it wanted to prohibit consumer racism in stores — “shopping while black,” the pernicious practice of eyeing darker-skinned customers with greater suspicion as they browse a store, or disproportionately accusing them of shoplifting.

Thanks to the commission’s vote, we now know the Palm Beach County answer to one of the burning questions of 2015: What if a bakery declined to make a cake for a gay couple’s wedding? Under the ordinance, the bakery may be subject to litigation, as well a fine of up to $50,000 for multiple violations. The guiding principle: Store owners can’t choose their customers based on prejudice.

The expanded ordinance is welcome news to Discover The Palm Beaches, the county’s marketing organization for travel. Discover has made conscious efforts to attract LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transvestite) business, hosting travel writers who focus on that audience and encouraging the increasing popularity of Palm Beach-area locations for same-sex weddings since the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling this summer.

“We want to showcase that our destination is inclusive for all visitors,” Jose Pesquera, president and CEO, told The Post Editorial Board. “We want everyone to feel completely welcome. Our brand promise is that ‘genuine hospitality is a way of life,’ and that’s more than just a catch phrase for us. Every guest, regardless of lifestyle, race or origin, is valued and respected.”

Tourism is Palm Beach County’s largest industry, with an economic impact last year of a record $7.3 billion, according to Discover The Palm Beaches. With this ordinance, the county will be doing good — and doing well — at the same time.

Palm Beach County expands anti-bias law to include retail businesses

http://www.mypalmbeachpost.com/news/news/local-govt-politics/palm-beach-county-expands-anti-bias-law-to-include/nnk2w/

By Wayne Washington - Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
September 23, 2015


WEST PALM BEACH — With demands for freedom of religious expression spilling into the presidential race — and sparking fears of renewed discrimination — Palm Beach County vastly expanded the types of businesses that are expressly barred from discriminating against customers and would-be customers.

At the urging of the Palm Beach County Human Rights Council — a group best known for its work in protecting the rights of gays and lesbians — the County Commission voted 6-0 Tuesday to expand the definition of what is considered a “public accommodation.”

The county’s anti-discrimination law has, for a quarter century, barred discrimination in public accommodations, typically thought of as restaurants and places of lodging and entertainment.
Now, though, the county has expanded the definition of public accommodation to include a broad range of businesses, including retail outlets and places of transportation.

“This is really a big deal,” said Rand Hoch, the president and founder of the West Palm branch of the Human Rights Council. “This is just putting it out there that if you hold yourself out there to serve the general public, you can’t do that if you’re going to discriminate against members of that public.”

Hoch alluded to incidents in Florida and other states to highlight the potentially sweeping impact of the county’s expanded ordinance, which was first discussed in August.

On Monday, a transgender woman live-tweeted her experience of being detained by security officials at Orlando International Airport because of what they described as “an anomaly,” her penis.
The woman said she missed her flight.

“Yesterday, the airport (in Palm Beach County) wasn’t a public accommodation,” Hoch said. “Today, the airport is a public accommodation.”

Owners of an Indiana bakery made national news last year when, citing religious objections, they refused to bake a wedding cake for a gay couple.

After Indiana passed a “religious tolerance” law some saw as giving businesses permission to discriminate, many canceled vacations and conventions in the state. The law was eventually modified.

The bakery, boycotted by some who saw its actions as discriminatory, closed in December, though its owners said it remained financially viable.

“Today, the bakery is a public accommodation,” Hoch said, adding that a bakery in Palm Beach County could not legally refuse to bake a wedding cake for a gay couple.

Since it was passed in 1973, Palm Beach County’s anti-discrimination ordinance has been modified to include additional groups of people, but the limited definition of a public accommodation remained, a sort of relic, Hoch said, of the civil rights-era protests that led to its creation.
First-time violators of Palm Beach County’s anti-discrimination ordinance can be fined as much as $10,000. A second violation within five years could bring a fine of up to $25,000. And three violations within seven years could mean a fine of as much as $50,000.

Complainants can sue in court or go to the Fair Housing Board.

Demands for freedom of religious expression exploded into the presidential race this year when Kim Davis, an elected county clerk in Kentucky, said her religious faith compelled her to refuse to issue the wedding licenses to gay couples, despite a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision requiring it.

On the day of her release, Davis was greeted by two Republican Party candidates for the president — U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee. Both men praised her and blasted her jailing as the “criminalization” of Christianity. Others, however, argued that Davis’ behavior was homophobic, discriminatory and illegal.

“This is the real world,” Palm Beach County Commissioner Priscilla Taylor said. “Discrimination still exists.”

When the Human Rights Council first asked the County Commission to expand the definition of places of public accommodation last January, “its main priority was to prohibit consumer racism in retail stores — a practice known as ‘shopping while black,’ ” Hoch said.

The experience of people of color being refused service, or given poor service, is not uncommon. Many African Americans describe as a sort of black right of passage being followed in a store or being asked, repeatedly, “Can I help you?”

Hoch said the Human Rights Council gets two or three calls a year from black residents describing an unpleasant shopping experience. According to the council, the complaints include being wrongly detained, steered away from certain products and asked for additional forms of identification regarding credit applications.

“They’d say they were followed in the store and treated like a criminal,” Hoch said. “They said it was embarrassing.”

Palm Beach County’s expanded ordinance puts it on legal par with other counties in the southern part of the state. Hoch, however, said he’d like the see it adopted by the state Legislature.

Previous efforts to expand the state’s anti-discrimination laws have failed.

Typically, the push back against expanding anti-discrimination laws have come from business owners worried about being sued.

Officials with the Business Political Action Committee of Palm Beach County could not be reached for comment on the county’s expanded ordinance. Danny Martell, president and chief executive officer of the Economic Council of Palm Beach County, said he does not know enough about the expanded ordinance to comment on it.

Commissioners passed changes to the ordinance without comment on Tuesday, but that doesn’t diminish the importance of the move, Taylor said.

“I don’t think we can do too much to protect the rights of people,” she said.

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WHAT THE LAW MEANS

Retail businesses and places of travel join restaurants, bars and places of lodging and entertainment on the list of “places of public accommodation” that legally cannot discriminate based on race, sex, color, religion, national origin, disability, familial status, sexual orientation, age, marital status, and gender identity or expression.

That means Palm Beach County could issue fines to stores whose employees give inferior service to black customers based on their race or  to bakeries that refuse to sell a wedding cake to a gay couple.

Palm Beach County bolsters anti-discrimination law

By Andy Reid Sun Sentinel

September 25, 2015 

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/local/palm-beach/fl-discrimination-rules-palm-20150925-story.html

 
Palm Beach County has expanded its anti-discrimination law, requiring equal treatment of customers at a broader range of businesses including bakeries, clothing stores, grocery stores and even funeral parlors.

Palm Beach County's newly expanded anti-discrimination law requires that more businesses serve customers based on their ability to pay and not their race, religion or sexual orientation.

Rules that initially called for equal treatment at restaurants, bars, hotels and housing were broadened recently to include bakeries, clothing stores, funeral parlors and a host of other businesses.

          Taylor says diversity should be bigger factor in county funding

 

"Everybody should be treated the same way, wherever they go. Period. It shouldn't even be a thought," said County Mayor Shelley Vana, who called the expanded law "a move in the right direction."

It was a change championed in particular by the gay and lesbian community.

At a time when the courts have legalized same-sex marriage, gay and lesbian couples planning their weddings face being refused service because of their sexual orientation, according to Rand Hoch, president and founder of the Palm Beach County Human Rights Council.

"Allowing store owners to choose their customers based on prejudice deprives shoppers of the freedom to walk into a store that seems to be open the general public and get served like everybody else," Hoch said.

The county's "public accommodation" law — initially passed in 1990 and previously updated last year — takes aim at discrimination based on race, sex, color, religion, national origin, disability, familial status, sexual orientation, age, marital status and gender identity or expression.

That makes it unlawful for businesses, because of those factors, "to refuse, withhold from or deny" service, goods or any "accommodations" offered to other customers.

The rules previously covered hotels and other lodging as well as businesses such as restaurants, bars, movies, theaters and sports arenas.

The newly expanded version covers more retail establishments, including bakeries, grocery stores, clothing stores and shopping centers.

The law now also includes more public gathering places, such as auditoriums and lecture halls as well as service-oriented businesses such as laundromats, banks, dry cleaners, hair salons, doctor's offices and hospitals.

Taxi and limousine services are specifically referenced by the far-reaching law, along with museums and galleries, private schools, from pre-school to graduate school, and gyms and public golf courses.
The two primary exemptions to the county's law are for religious organizations and private clubs that aren't open to the general public.

Local business leaders didn't voice any complaints when the County Commission on Tuesday approved the rule changes.

Lack of opposition shows how the community is evolving on equal rights, according to Dennis Grady, president and CEO of the Chamber of Commerce of the Palm Beaches. Scaring away customers isn't good for business, he added.

"Most, if not all, private businesses operate under the theory that [they] want to maximize their profits," Grady said.

People who think they have been discriminated against can file a complaint with the county's Office of Equal Opportunity, which investigates and determines if there was a violation.

If wrongdoing is found, the county tries to reach reconciliation between the parties. If an agreement can't be reached, the person who filed the complaint can go to court and use the county's finding of a violation to bolster a lawsuit.

Landlords and businesses found to have violated the county's law can face court penalties ranging from $10,000 to $50,000 per offense, on top of court fees and other penalties a judge impose. 

The goal of expanding the law is to "make sure that the county is treating everybody fairly," Commissioner Mary Lou Berger, who supported expanding the county's anti-discrimination law, said.

"The world is changing so fast," Berger said. "We are coming out of the dark ages."

Palm Beach County Expands Civil Rights Protections

By Chris Joseph, Broward-Palm Beach New Times 

September 22, 2015

 

Palm Beach County Commissioners have unanimously voted to expand civil rights protections for minorities by redefining "places of public accommodation" in the Palm Beach County Ordinance for Equal Opportunity to Housing and Places of Public Accommodation.

 

The vote, which passed in 6-0 decision, was held on Tuesday morning. 

Specifically, the amendment will now mean that it is prohibited to discriminate not only in hotels or restaurants - which the original ordinance was written for - but also in retail stores and other places of business throughout the county. 

For over forty years, Palm Beach County has steadily strengthened civil rights ordinances that prohibited discrimination. In 1973, the county passed an ordinance that prohibits discrimination in hotels, motels, and restaurants. Over the years those rights have expanded to include race, religion, national origin, disability, marital status, age, sexual orientation and gender identity or expression. However, those public accommodation discrimination ordinances were limited to places offering lodging, food service or entertainment. 

"The ordinance traced its roots back to civil rights laws written in the 1960s when it was legal to have 'Whites only' hotels, restaurants and bars and the County Commissioners only addressed inequities had occurred in very few places of commerce," explains Rand Hoch, President and Founder of the Palm Beach County Human Rights Council. "As we know, discriminatory acts are not limited to those few places."

Now, thanks to Tuesday's vote, the County Commissioners have expanded the definition of public accommodation to include retail stores, schools, day care and senior centers, medical offices, funeral homes, bakeries, laundromats and virtually all other places of business throughout the county.

"Since there is no statewide law covering discrimination in retail stores, the ordinance passed today is clearly the most significant civil rights law passed in Palm Beach County in decades," says Hoch. "Allowing store owners to choose their customers based on prejudice deprives shoppers of the freedom to walk into a store that seems to be open the general public and get served like everybody else."

Hoch, and the Palm Beach County Human Rights Council, approached the County Commission in January to address expanding the ordinance. The group's objective was to prohibit consumer racism in retail stores, and to end the so-called "shopping while black" practice, a phrase used to describe racial profiling, or being denied service at a business because the customer is black.

"The experience of people of color being refused service - or given poor service - is not uncommon," the PBCHRC said in a statement. "'Shopping while Black' also includes black customers being followed by store clerks, wrongly detained, steered away from certain products, and being asked for additional forms of identification regarding credit applications."

The amendment also extends to those in the LGBT community who may face discrimination from businesses refusing service over sexual orientation.

The legalization of same-sex marriage throughout several states recently has also brought upon examples of discrimination, where places like locally-owned bakeries and wedding shops have refused to provide services for gay and lesbian couples looking to get married. 

Hoch explains that, under the new ordinance, a bakery that refuses a gay or lesbian couple service may be subject with not only litigation, but a fine of up to $50,000.

"In Palm Beach County, businesses engaged in commerce will no longer be allowed to refuse service based on a person's race, religion, disability, sexual orientation or any other protected classes," Hoch says. 

Wellington Unanimously Passes LGBT-Inclusive Civil Rights Ordinance

http://www.browardpalmbeach.com/news/wellington-unanimously-passes-lgbt-inclusive-civil-rights-ordinance-7250419   

By Chris Joseph, Broward-Palm Beach New Times Staff Writer 

Friday, September 11, 2015

Fifty six counties and 392 municipalities across Florida have yet to move forward with prohibiting discrimination against the LGBT community.  But last night, Wellington - the largest village in Florida and the fifth largest municipality in Palm Beach County - unanimously voted to enact an LGBT-inclusive civil rights ordinance establishing that the city opposes discrimination based on race, color, national origin, religion, sex, gender identity or expression, genetic information, sexual orientation, disability, marital status, pregnancy, familial status, or age.

Palm Beach County Human Rights Council (PBCHRC), which has spurred several cities and municipalities across the state to pass similar ordinance, have been diligently working to persuade elected officials in Wellington to enact the ordinance. Delray Beach passed the ordinance in July, and the group hopes that Lake Clark Shores, and Palm Beach Gardens will soon join in.

The movement to get the ordinances passed across the state is part of the PBHRC's Palm Beach County: You're Welcome! campaign.

"The 'Palm Beach County: You're Welcome!' campaign encourages municipalities to enact LGBT-inclusive civil rights laws," PBCHRC President and Founder Rand Hoch says. "These laws will educate local residents and business owners of their civil rights and responsibilities. Moreover, the laws will help attract more jobs, revenue and resources to Palm Beach County."

Yet even as more and more cities and municipalities are joining in on passing the ordinance, there's still more work to do, Hoch says.

Florida lawmakers have yet to move forward with prohibiting discrimination against the LGBT community, Hoch tells New Times.

"Clearly much work needs to be done," he says. "Congress has refused to pass a bill since 1974, and Florida has failed to do so since 2007 So all the work needs to be done on the local level - and it still isn't being done in so many parts of the state."

PBCHRC President and Founder Rand Hoch 

On August 11, Hoch presented a draft civil rights ordinance and urged the Village Council to enact it. By a vote of 4-1, the Council directed the Village Attorney to prepare an LGBT-inclusive civil rights ordinance for their consideration. Councilwoman Anne Gerwig cast the sole "no" vote. Having met with Hoch following the August 11 vote, Gerwig was persuaded to support the civil rights ordinance on Thursday night,

Following Thursday's vote Wellington joins Atlantic Beach, Boynton Beach, Delray Beach, Dunedin, Gainesville, Greenacres, Gulfport, Key West, Lake Worth, Leesburg, Miami, Miami Beach, Oakland Park, Orlando, St. Augustine Beach, Tampa, Venice, West Palm Beach and Wilton Manors among the cities and municipalities that have enacted LGBT-inclusive municipal civil rights ordinances.

The PBCHRC says the Town of Lake Clarke Shores will be considering an identical LGBT-inclusive civil rights ordinance at their September 15 Town Council meeting.

"Much work remains to be done in our state," added Hoch.

PBCHRC President's Message - September 2015

September 2015

It has been an incredible summer for LGBT Americans.

On the national level, marriage equality is now the law of the land for all LGBT people across America. Additionally, the EEOC (Equal Employment Opportunity Commission) now stands ready to help LGBT people who have experienced discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. 

But the help being offered by the EEOC is not enough. Federal, state and local laws expressly prohibiting discrimination against LGBT people are sorely needed.

Last month, the federal Equality Act to specifically prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity was introduced in Congress. Although there are 195 sponsors who are Democrats - including Palm Beach County's Ted Deutch, Lois Frankel, Alcee Hastings and Patrick Murphy - not a single Republican has signed on to support the bill. So, the likelihood of the Equality Act becoming law before the 2016 elections is remote.

Here at home, Equality Florida will be trying for the eighth consecutive year to get some traction on their proposed Competitive Workforce Act, which, if enacted, would include sexual orientation and gender identity in our state's civil right and fair housing acts. The bill died in the 2015 legislative session without a hearing and a vote - just as it has every year since Equality Florida first introduced it. While incremental progress is being made, with the current legislative leadership, the likelihood of passage of the bill in 2016 remains as remote as ever.

Unlike Floridians living in approximately 90% of Florida's 67 counties, Palm Beach County's LGBT residents are protected from discrimination in employment, housing and public accommodations. And, in contrast to many other civil rights ordinances in Florida, every civil rights ordinance in Palm Beach County expressly protects LGBT people from discrimination.

Yet, we are not resting on our successes over the past 27 years. PBCHRC continues to work diligently to strengthen our county and municipal civil rights laws.

We recently launched our latest initiative - the "Palm Beach County: You're Welcome!" campaign. Close to 100 PBCHRC supporters celebrated the campaign kick-off at Meat Market in Palm Beach. The purpose of the campaign is to encourage local municipalities to enact LGBT-inclusive civil rights ordinances.

So far this year, three new ordinances have been enacted. Boynton Beach, Greenacres and Delray Beach have all enacted LGBT-inclusive civil rights ordinances. (Special thanks go out to PBCHRC Board Member Meredith Ockman and Greenacres City Councilwoman Paula Bousquet for their successful work in Greenacres, and to PBCHRC volunteer Marcie Hall for her work in Delray Beach.)

PBCHRC Board Member Hutch Floyd, a Lake Clarke Shores resident, and Secretary Rae Franks have been working for the past few months with Lake Clark Shores Vice Mayor Greg Freebold and Town Council Members Robert Shalhoub and Val Rodriguez on an LGBT-inclusive civil rights ordinance for the town. The town council is expected to hold its initial vote on the ordinance later this month.

In August, PBCHRC Board Member (and former Mayor of Pahokee) J.P. Sasser and I attended the Wellington Village Council meeting where the vote was 4-1 to direct the village attorney to draft an LGBT-inclusive civil rights ordinance. Thanks go out to Mayor Bob Margolis, Vice Mayor John Green and Councilmen John T. McGovern and Matt Willhite who all spoke out -- and voted -- in favor of PBCHRC's request for the ordinance. Village Councilwoman Anne Gerwig cast the sole "no" vote. At her request, in late August I met with her to discuss the ordinance; however, it remains to be seen whether she will continue her opposition when the ordinance comes up for initial reading on September 10.

In Haverhill, Vice Mayor Lawrence Gordon asked the Town Council to enact an LGBT-inclusive civil rights ordinance. On September 1, longtime PBCHRC supporter  and Haverhill resident Charlie Fredrickson and I addressed the Town Council.  Vice Mayor Gordon's request is now headed to the Code and Ordinance's Committee for consideration later this month.

PBCHRC Board Member Jamie Foreman and I continue to work with Lake Worth Mayor Pam Triolo and Vice Mayor Pro Tem Andy Amoroso to strengthen the city's existing civil rights ordinances.

PBCHRC recently approached the South Florida Water Management District, which has employees spread out over 16 Florida counties, to update its Equal Opportunity and Harassment Policy to prohibit discrimination based on "gender identity or expression."

PBCHRC Secretary Rae Franks and I attended the August meeting of the Palm Beach County League of Cities when they discussed an amendment to the Palm Beach County Ordinance for Equal Opportunity to Housing and Places of Public Accommodation which PBCHRC had drafted. The League had no objection and the ordinance was unanimously approved on first reading on August 18. The final vote is set for September 22, and, that evening, PBCHRC will recognize the Palm Beach County Board of County Commissioners for their leadership on civil rights over the years.

The September 22 event for the County Commissioners is a happy hour, which will be held at Wine Scene, near CityPlace in West Palm Beach. We expect more than 100 people to attend, and we hope you can make it. For more information - and to RSVP for this free event - please click here.

Also, please click here to go to the event's Facebook page to show that you will be attending.  Please feel free use the "Invite" tab on the event page to invite your friends.

Our relationship with the Palm Beach County's School Board and School District remains strong. PBCHRC Board Member Carly Cass did a presentation on bullying issues faced by LGBT students for the school district in mid-summer. PBCHRC Board Members Meredith Ockman and Carly Cass also participated in the August "Train the Trainer" session entitled "LGBTQ 101: Moving the Margins," which was sponsored by ChildNet Palm Beach.

Robert Telford, West Palm Beach Mayor Jeri Muoio's liaison to the LGBT community, recently informed PBCHRC that, for the first time, the city will participate in the 2015 Municipal Equality Index (MEI). MEI, which is coordinated by the Washington, DC-based Human Rights Campaign, examines the laws, policies, and services of municipalities and rates them on the basis of their inclusivity of LGBT people who live and work there. Last year, the MEI rated 353 cities from across the United States. The 16 Florida municipalities which participated in 2014 were Cape Coral, Fort Lauderdale, Hialeah, Hollywood, Jacksonville, Miami, Miami Beach, Miami Shores, Oakland Park, Orlando, Pembroke Pines, Port Saint Lucie, St. Petersburg, Tallahassee, Tampa and, of course, Wilton Manors.

SAVE THE DATES

On Saturday evening, January 16, 2016, PBCHRC will hold our Winter Gala.  The gala will be held at the historic 1920s Palm Beach estate of Bill Eberhardt.Thanks go out to Bill Eberhardt and to  longtime PBCHRC supporter Scott Kent, who will be producing the gala.More information about underwriting opportunities and tickets sales will be provided soon.

PBCHRC will be joining other LGBT and allied organizations in working on Habitat for Humanity's Pride House next year. Construction is currently set for the weekend of February 6, 2016 and if you would like to help out, please contact PBCHRC Board Member Carly Cass at carlyecass@gmail.com.

The Council's current projects include persuading:

*   The Village of Wellington and the Towns of Lake Clarke Shores and Haverhill to enact LGBT-inclusive civil rights ordinances and revise their personnel policies to prohibit discrimination based on "sexual orientation" and"gender identity and expression";

*   The Palm Beach County Board of County Commissioners and the West Palm Beach City Commission to adopt more comprehensive definitions of "public accommodation" in their human rights ordinances;

*   The South Florida Water Management District to update its Equal Opportunity and Harassment Policy to prohibit discrimination based on "gender identity or expression";

*   Florida Atlantic University to amend its anti-discrimination and anti-harassment policy to include "gender identity or expression";

*   The City of Boca Raton to rescind Ordinance No. 5161;

*   The chief judge of Florida's 15th Judicial Circuit in and for Palm Beach County to include sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression in mandatory diversity training for judges and court personnel; and

*   All public employers within Palm Beach County to adopt policies which specifically prohibit discrimination based on "sexual orientation" and "gender identity and expression."

Since 1988, the Palm Beach County Human Rights Council has worked diligently on behalf of the LGBT community. Rest assured, we will continue to do so.

Judge Rand Hoch (retired), 

President and Founder

Wellington To Draft LGBT Ordinance Supporting The County’s Policy

By Ron Bukley, Town-Crier Editor
August 21, 2015

The Wellington Village Council directed its attorney last week to draft an ordinance in support of Palm Beach County’s lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) civil rights ordinance.

At the Aug. 11 meeting, Rand Hoch, president of the Palm Beach County Human Rights Council, explained his request for the council to adopt the county’s civil rights ordinance as it pertains to LGBT people, and the difficulties the village would encounter if it opted out of it.

Village Attorney Laurie Cohen had recommended opting out of the ordinance proposed by Hoch out of concern for potential liability to the village.

Hoch, whose law practice has centered on workplace issues and civil rights, asked the council to enact an ordinance informing all residents, not just village employees, about their civil rights and directing them to appropriate agencies if they seek redress.

In 2010, the Human Rights Council asked the village to include LGBT employees in its nondiscrimination policies, in compliance with the county’s equal employment opportunity ordinance, and Hoch was invited to work with the village attorney to help draft the LGBT-inclusive non-discrimination policies, which were then adopted unanimously by the Wellington Village Council.

At a workshop in July, there was discussion of whether a municipal civil rights ordinance would be of benefit to the village.

“Civil rights laws exist to specifically identify people who have been recognized as victims of discrimination, and to specifically provide such individuals with the opportunity to have their claims investigated and adjudicated upon by independent agencies,” Hoch said. “The key word is, ‘independent.’”

He pointed out that the village’s human resources director is charged with investigating civil rights violations, but the village has the final say whether discrimination has occurred. “It’s not independent,” Hoch said. “It’s sort of allowing the potential fox to guard the henhouse.”

With the current climate in the United States Congress and Florida Legislature, Hoch said it was unlikely that pro-LGBT legislation would be forthcoming at the state and federal levels. Although people who feel that they have been discriminated against can file a complaint with the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, Hoch said EEOC findings are not binding in court. “The only recourse that the village’s LGBT employees have arises from the county ordinance,” he said.

Hoch said that he was upset that Cohen had recommended opting out of the county ordinance. “Those ordinances provide you and your employees the least expensive way to resolve complaints of discrimination,” he said.

Vice Mayor John Greene said he understood Cohen’s concern of liability to the village, and that he believes that the village already has an inclusive human rights policy as an employer, but would support the county ordinance.

“I think it is important, as we have seen recently from the United States Supreme Court, there are laws changing, and we really want to eliminate discrimination at any level,” Greene said. “I think this is a step in that direction, and I will support that. I hope that we can come up with language that is acceptable to everybody.”

Hoch pointed out that other municipalities, including Delray Beach and Boynton Beach, had adopted supportive policies.

Councilman Matt Willhite said he thought it was good that other municipalities had adopted ordinances, and asked what would happen if the village did nothing, or if it modified the language of the county ordinance that Cohen was concerned with.

Hoch said he was open, as long as an ordinance included LGBT employees. “We’re not married to the language,” he said.

Councilwoman Anne Gerwig said she had numerous friends and family closely associated with LGBT concerns.




“It has nothing to do with that, I just don’t support this as a protected class, because I don’t think someone’s sexuality is something that has anything to do with the workplace,” she said. “I don’t think someone’s sexuality is something that should be discussed in the workplace. I wouldn’t want someone to be treated poorly; I just don’t think it is a discussion that is appropriate for the working situation.”

She added that the current policy protects anyone who is being harassed for something that has nothing to do with their work.

Hoch said a friend of his had been in a job interview where he was wearing a wedding band.

“The interviewer kept asking about his wife,” he said. “He has been married to his husband for three years. It’s not sex that we’re talking about. Someone who has a picture of their family or someone who is wearing a wedding band, or someone who says, ‘What did you do this weekend?’ and you say, ‘My husband and I went fishing.’ That’s where it comes up.”

Greene made a motion, seconded by Councilman John McGovern, directing Cohen to draft language in support of the county’s LGBT ordinance and bring it back to the council by the end of the fiscal year.

The motion passed 4-1 with Gerwig dissenting.

Wellington To Draft LGBT Ordinance Supporting The County’s Policy

By Ron Bukle

Town Crier Staff Writer

 August 21, 2015

The Wellington Village Council directed its attorney last week to draft an ordinance in support of Palm Beach County’s lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) civil rights ordinance.


At the Aug. 11 meeting, Rand Hoch, president of the Palm Beach County Human Rights Council, explained his request for the council to adopt the county’s civil rights ordinance as it pertains to LGBT people, and the difficulties the village would encounter if it opted out of it.


Village Attorney Laurie Cohen had recommended opting out of the ordinance proposed by Hoch out of concern for potential liability to the village.


Hoch, whose law practice has centered on workplace issues and civil rights, asked the council to enact an ordinance informing all residents, not just village employees, about their civil rights and directing them to appropriate agencies if they seek redress.


In 2010, the Human Rights Council asked the village to include LGBT employees in its nondiscrimination policies, in compliance with the county’s equal employment opportunity ordinance, and Hoch was invited to work with the village attorney to help draft the LGBT-inclusive non-discrimination policies, which were then adopted unanimously by the Wellington Village Council.
 
At a workshop in July, there was discussion of whether a municipal civil rights ordinance would be of benefit to the village.


“Civil rights laws exist to specifically identify people who have been recognized as victims of discrimination, and to specifically provide such individuals with the opportunity to have their claims investigated and adjudicated upon by independent agencies,” Hoch said. “The key word is, ‘independent.’”

He pointed out that the village’s human resources director is charged with investigating civil rights violations, but the village has the final say whether discrimination has occurred. “It’s not independent,” Hoch said. “It’s sort of allowing the potential fox to guard the henhouse.”


With the current climate in the United States Congress and Florida Legislature, Hoch said it was unlikely that pro-LGBT legislation would be forthcoming at the state and federal levels. Although people who feel that they have been discriminated against can file a complaint with the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, Hoch said EEOC findings are not binding in court. “The only recourse that the village’s LGBT employees have arises from the county ordinance,” he said.


Hoch said that he was upset that Cohen had recommended opting out of the county ordinance. “Those ordinances provide you and your employees the least expensive way to resolve complaints of discrimination,” he said.


Vice Mayor John Greene said he understood Cohen’s concern of liability to the village, and that he believes that the village already has an inclusive human rights policy as an employer, but would support the county ordinance.


“I think it is important, as we have seen recently from the United States Supreme Court, there are laws changing, and we really want to eliminate discrimination at any level,” Greene said. “I think this is a step in that direction, and I will support that. I hope that we can come up with language that is acceptable to everybody.”


Hoch pointed out that other municipalities, including Delray Beach and Boynton Beach, had adopted supportive policies.


Councilman Matt Willhite said he thought it was good that other municipalities had adopted ordinances, and asked what would happen if the village did nothing, or if it modified the language of the county ordinance that Cohen was concerned with.

Hoch said he was open, as long as an ordinance included LGBT employees. “We’re not married to the language,” he said.
 
Councilwoman Anne Gerwig said she had numerous friends and family closely associated with LGBT concerns.


“It has nothing to do with that, I just don’t support this as a protected class, because I don’t think someone’s sexuality is something that has anything to do with the workplace,” she said. “I don’t think someone’s sexuality is something that should be discussed in the workplace. I wouldn’t want someone to be treated poorly; I just don’t think it is a discussion that is appropriate for the working situation.

She added that the current policy protects anyone who is being harassed for something that has nothing to do with their work.


Hoch said a friend of his had been in a job interview where he was wearing a wedding band.
“The interviewer kept asking about his wife,” he said. “He has been married to his husband for three years. It’s not sex that we’re talking about. Someone who has a picture of their family or someone who is wearing a wedding band, or someone who says, ‘What did you do this weekend?’ and you say, ‘My husband and I went fishing.’ That’s where it comes up.”


Greene made a motion, seconded by Councilman John McGovern, directing Cohen to draft language in support of the county’s LGBT ordinance and bring it back to the council by the end of the fiscal year.
 
The motion passed 4-1 with Gerwig dissenting.

Activist marks 27 years of fight for equality

http://mpb.floridaweekly.com/news/2015-08-20/Top_News/Activist_marks_27_years_of_fight_for_equality.html#.Vdi8E5dpYZw

Activist marks 27 years of fight for equality

BY CAROLYN SUSMAN

Florida Weekly correspondent
Week of August 20-25, 2015

The long-awaited U.S. Supreme Court action in June overturning bans on gay marriage liberated many to openly proclaim their joy and celebrate.

But some of those same celebrants had found coming out as gay to be a long and painful process.

They also may have found that once you were out, you could hit a wall of discrimination that was hard and hurtful.

Palm Beach County lawyer Rand Hoch has fought diligently over the years to bring along thousands of his gay brothers and sisters through his battle for gay rights and his openness and activism.

***

"When I started law school in the early 1980s, I toned things down a bit. I was still dating men, going to the clubs and the beach, but wasn't overly out at law school. At the time Stetson was still a Baptist school, so I didn't want to cause any problems."

And there was still fear and doubt that gays could be openly accepted practicing law.

"During my second year of school, a budget analyst for Broward County, Todd Shuttleworth, was fired for having AIDS. When he lost his job, he also lost his health insurance. I sent a letter to Alan Terl, an ACLU participating attorney who was representing Todd, offering my assistance.

"Alan called to thank me and advised me not to get involved. He feared that my association with the case could jeopardize my admission to The Florida Bar. At the time, the Florida Supreme Court had ruled that one's sexual orientation alone could not be used to deny admission to The Florida Bar. But the Court did not rule on whether a 'practicing homosexual' could be admitted. And I had been practicing for quite some time."

But practicing and being openly accepted are two different things, especially concerning employment. Mr. Hoch found this out while working as a clerk for a law firm in North Palm Beach years ago

He had assumed the firm tacitly acknowledged his sexual orientation when members gave him two weeks to go to San Francisco and attend the Democratic National Convention.

"Now, most people know that political conventions last a few days, not two weeks," he notes. "So when the firm said that would be fine, I thought that maybe this was the firm's way of saying, 'It's OK to be gay and work for us.' "

He was very wrong.

He was offered a job with the firm after graduation; that was the good news.

But when he decided he didn't want to "actively hide" his personal life, he asked how his homosexuality would affect eventually becoming a partner.

That brought the bad news.

"I watched the color drain from his face, and then I watched the color return as he said, 'We've never had that problem before.' This was not a good sign.

"He asked how my being gay might have an impact on the firm.

"I replied that I didn't intend on asking male clients to dance at the Christmas party, but, if there was going to be a firm party or retreat, I would like to be able to bring along my significant other, if I had one. As it turns out, one of the firm's biggest clients would probably have enjoyed dancing with me. But at the time, I didn't know he was gay."

Eventually, Mr. Hoch negotiated a graceful exit that allowed him to say he had turned down their job offer when questioned about why he left.

This was a big turning point in his career.

"Having been a victim of discrimination based solely on my sexual orientation, I refocused my legal studies to labor law," he said.

"After graduation, I went to work for a labor law firm in West Palm Beach, representing workers and unions. Based on what had happened with the other law firm, I decided not to volunteer information about my sexuality, but I decided that I would be truthful if asked. They didn't ask."

He went on to become a founder in 1988 of the Palm Beach County Human Rights Council. He has twice served as the organization's president and has helped to spearhead efforts that have greatly expanded gay rights, particularly in Palm Beach County.

"Over the past 27 years, PBCHRC has been the impetus for enacting close to 100 LGBT-inclusive laws and policies," Mr. Hoch says.

"Personally, I am most proud of orchestrating the successful campaign in 1989 and 1990 to have the County Commission amend the County's Fair Housing Act to prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation and marital status.

"Until that was done, a gay rights law had only been enacted one time in Florida, in Dade County, and it was repealed within a matter of months. So, our law remains the oldest LGBT rights law in effect in Florida today."

What he doesn't mention in his biography and public statements is his effort to see that there is strong leadership trained to carry on this battle.

"After having the honor to have been mentored by Rand Hoch I can honestly say he believes in supporting the next generation to continue the work above all else," says Carly Elizabeth Cass, a council board member.

"Since I joined the board of the Palm Beach County Human Rights Council last year, he has repeatedly expressed the belief that 'a good leader is always looking for his or her replacement,'" she says.

"Rand does not let his ego get in the way of the work. He has expressed and shown the importance of asking for help, and always giving credit where credit is due. Out of everything he has taught me, perhaps the most important is that there is a process as to how things should be done and it must be respected.

"Rand is not the type of person to jump the gun, rather he is one of the most diplomatic leaders I have ever met.

"He will exhaust all resources before taking controversial action. With all that being said, Rand has a lot more on his to-do list before stepping down from his position within the community."

To read the complete article, click here.

 

PBCHRC Launches "Palm Beach County: You're Welcome!" Campaign Celebration

The Palm Beach County Human Rights Council formally launched our "Palm Beach County: You're Welcome" campaign in Palm Beach last Wednesday night.

Dozens of  PBCHRC supporters - including Palm Beach County Mayor Shelley Vana, West Palm Beach Mayor Jeri Muoio and Palm Beach County's Constitutional Tax Collector Anne Gannon - attended  the celebration at Meat Market Palm Beach.  The event was produced  by Altima Palm Beach, a local public relations firm that donated its services to PBCHRC.

The campaign serves to encourage local municipalities to enact LGBT-inclusive civil rights laws to not only educate local residents and business owners of their civil rights and responsibilities, but also to help attract more jobs, revenue and resources to Palm Beach County.

In making relocation and expansion decisions, more and more businesses are investigating how municipalities protect their LGBT residents

Last month, Facebook announced a $1 billion investment in a data center in Fort Worth, Texas.  The project is expected to generate $21 million in taxes for the city over the next 10 years.  Before committing to Fort Worth, Facebook reviewed the civil rights ordinances of all of the potential locations for the data center specifically to see if there were LGBT-inclusive civil rights ordinances.  Fort Worth's  civil rights ordinance had been on the books for 15 years.

At the start of this year, West Palm Beach, Lake Worth and Palm Beach County were the only local governments with LGBT-inclusive civil rights laws.  Thanks to PBCHRC's efforts, additional civil rights ordinances have since been enacted this year in Boynton Beach, Greenacres and Delray Beach.

Last Tuesday evening, the Wellington Village Council also voted to direct the Village Attorney to draft an LGBT-inclusive civil rights ordinance prior to the end of the Village's fiscal year in October.  Four of the five Council Members spoke out in favor of the ordinance.

In Haverhill, the Town Council recently held a workshop on a similar civil rights ordinance.  Council Member Lawrence Gordon is working with the Town Attorney on the specific language, and the ordinance is expected to come before the Town Council in late August.

Lake Clarke Shores Vice Mayor Gregory Freebold, who attended the celebration in Palm Beach, has taken the lead in having his town enact a LGBT-inclusive civil rights.   Freebold is working closely with PBCHRC Board Member Hutch Floyd, a town resident.  The Town Council is expected to vote on the ordinance within the next several weeks.

Working together with elected officials, PBCHRC has changed the face of Palm Beach County for the better.  However, while marriage equality is now the law of the land in all 50 states, there is no federal or state law that protects LGBT Floridians from discrimination.

"Thanks to the local civil rights laws and policies we have enacted, Palm Beach County is one of the best places in the world for LGBT people to live, study, work, raise families and retire," Palm Beach County Mayor Shelley Vana told PBCHRC supporters.

PBCHRC  will continue our work locally so that we can help secure equal rights and benefits for LGBT people.

SAVE THE DATE 

There will be a PBCHRC Happy Hour for supporters on the evening of Tuesday, September 22nd at Wine Scene, 501 Fern Street in West Palm Beach.  Details will be sent soon.

Delray Beach Becomes 5th Palm Beach County City to Enact LGBT-Inclusive Civil Rights Ordinance

(Delray Beach, Florida) -- At this evening's meeting, the Delray Beach City Commission members unanimously voted to enact a civil rights ordinance prohibiting discrimination based on race, color, national origin, religion, sex, gender identity or expression, genetic information, sexual orientation, disability, marital status, pregnancy, familial status, or age. 

The ordinance was proposed by the Palm Beach County Human Rights Council, a local nonprofit organization which is dedicated to ending discrimination based on sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression.

Delray Beach joins local cities Boynton Beach, Greenacres, Lake Worth and West Palm Beach which have enacted similar ordinances since 1994.

"Delray Beach understands the concepts of equality, diversity and inclusion," said Palm Beach County Human Rights Council volunteer Marcie Hall, the Delray Beach resident who led the organization's effort for the ordinance. "Tonight our city leaders have made it clear that everyone is valued for the diversity they bring to Delray Beach."

"Delray Beach is a first-class city with a diverse community," said Mayor Cary Glickstein, a longtime supporter of LGBT rights. "This ordinance lets people know that Delray Beach is open for business for everyone and that we oppose prejudice and discrimination of all kinds."

"While marriage equality is now the law of the land across America, the state of Florida Florida lacks a statewide laws prohibiting discrimination against LGBT people in employment, housing and public accommodations," said Rand Hoch, President and Founder of the Palm Beach County Human Rights Council.  "Therefore, until Congress or the Florida Legislature takes action, local LGBT advocacy rights organizations such as PBCHRC must continue to work with county and municipal leaders to protect our community from discrimination."

In addition to five cities in Palm Beach County, only 13 other
Florida municipalities - Atlantic Beach, Dunedin, Gainesville,  Gulfport, Key West, Leesburg, Miami, Miami Beach, Oakland Park, Orlando, Tampa, Venice and Wilton Manors -- have enacted  LGBT-inclusive municipal civil rights ordinances.

The Palm Beach County Human Rights Council is currently working to convince elected officials in Lake Clark Shores, Palm Beach Gardens and Wellington to enact similar ordinances.

Although Florida has sixty-seven counties, only ten - Palm Beach, Alachua, Broward, Hillsborough, Leon, Miami-Dade, Monroe, Orange, Palm Beach, Pinellas and Volusia Counties -  have LGBT-inclusive civil rights ordinances.

"Fifty-seven counties and 393 municipalities in Florida have yet to take steps to prohibit discrimination against the LGBT community," said Hoch.  "Despite the fact that LGBT people have achieved marriage equality, much work remains to be done to assure equal rights and protections for LGBT Floridians."

President's Message - LGBT Pride Month - June 2015

June 2015

Another LGBT Pride Month is here and there is so much to celebrate for LGBT people in Palm Beach County.

Unlike Floridians living in approximately 90% of Florida’s 67 counties, Palm Beach County’s LGBT residents are protected from discrimination in employment, housing and public accommodations. Our public school students are protected from harassment based on sexual orientation and gender identity. And unmarried lesbian and gay couples can register as domestic partners and enjoy limited benefits.

All Floridians should enjoy the same civil rights that we have in Palm Beach County.

While we have been celebrating marriage equality in Florida since January, with a favorable Supreme Court decision any day now, lesbians and gay men across America will be celebrating nationwide marriage equality.

PBCHRC hopes that the Supreme Court decision will provide the momentum needed to pass a statewide LGBT rights bill. For the seventh year in a row, Equality Florida’s proposed Competitive Workforce Act died without any action taken by the Florida Legislature. In fact, from 2009 through 2015, there has never even been a vote, a committee hearing or even an official workshop on the Equality Florida’s proposed LGBT rights bill.

In contrast, when PBCHRC was running with a similar bill in 2008, the Senate Commerce Committee not only held a hearing on our gay rights bill, it passed the bill by a 7-1 bipartisan vote. However, the bill died shortly thereafter. The following year PBCHRC was told by key legislators and lobbyists that there was no chance of our bill passing in the foreseeable future. Therefore, we stopped spending our limited funds on this doomed legislation and EQFL has run with it since 2009.

Hopefully the forthcoming momentum will assist EQFL in finally enacting the first LGBT-inclusive bill in Florida history. But until that happens, PBCHRC will continue work locally to ensure that Palm Beach County remains one of the best places in the world for LGBT people to live, work, play, study and retire.

Earlier this year, PBCHRC launched our "Palm Beach County: You’re Welcome” campaign to encourage local municipalities to enact LGBT-inclusive civil rights ordinances. So far this year, two new ordinances have been enacted. Boynton Beach and Greenacres have enacted LGBT-inclusive civil rights ordinances. (Special thanks go out to PBCHRC Board Member Meredith Ockman and Greenacres City Councilwoman Paula Bousquet for their successful work in Greenacres). Local municipal LGBT inclusive civil rights ordinances have long been in effect in both Lake Worth and West Palm Beach.


PBCHRC Board Members Jess Blackman, Hutch Floyd, Rae Franks and JP Sasser - and PBCHRC volunteer Marcie Hall - have begun working on municipal civil rights ordinances ordinances in Delray Beach, Lake Clarke Shores, Palm Beach Gardens and Wellington. As PBCHRC Past President, I am also working with the City of Lake Worth to update existing ordinances by making them LGBT inclusive.

For several months, PBCHRC has been working the Palm Beach County Board of County Commissioners to update the Palm Beach County Ordinance for Equal Opportunity to Housing and Places of Public Accommodation to provide for a more expansive definition of "public accommodation." We expect the amendments to be voted on later this summer. Once the county ordinance is amended, then the West Palm Beach City Commission is expected to amend the City's Equal Opportunity Ordinance accordingly.

As high school graduation season was about to begin, PBCHRC Board Member Carly Cass was informed that certain high schools sent out “Graduation Dress Guidelines” prohibiting female students from wearing pants to graduation. Since this is in clear violation of the School District policy “Protecting Students From Harassment and Discrimination,” I contacted School Board General Counsel Julie Ann Rico. Shortly thereafter, her office sent the following directive to all high school principals:

As you are preparing students for graduation it is important to remember that dress code requirements from all schools are to be gender neutral. As an example, it is not acceptable to prohibit women from wearing pants. Any questions or concerns about this legal requirement should be directed to the Office of General Counsel.
  

Our relationship with the school board and the school district remains strong. As the process of hiring a new superintendent was underway, a search committee forum focused exclusively on LGBT issues was held, thanks in great part to the efforts of PBCHRC supporter Donald Cavanaugh. PBCHRC Board Members Meredith Ockman, Carly Cass and I participated. PBCHRC looks forward to working with newly-hired superintendent, Dr. Robert Avossa, who starts work this month.

While I am on the topic of education, late last month PBCHRC presented the inaugural Daniel S. Hall Social Justice Award to Ethan Kennedy. The scholarship is named after Dan Hall, who has served as PBCHRC’s treasurer for the past 25 years. Ethan, who recently graduated from Oxford Academy, founded and served as president of his school’s Gay-Straight Alliance (GSA). He was also responsible for implementing the school's participation in the National Day of Silence, a day of action in which students vow to take a form of silence to call attention to the silencing effect of anti-LGBTQ bullying and harassment in schools. Ethan will be attending New College of Florida, where he plans to study Political Science and Women's/Gender Studies.

And as long as I am on the topic of awards, I want to thank the Harvey Milk Foundation for presenting me (along with five other LGBT leaders from South Florida) with the organization’s inaugural Diversity Honors Award at wonderful gala held at Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino. PBCHRC also wishes to thank two longtime supporters - Real Estate Consultant Don Todorich and Joseph Pubillones Interiors for providing us with limousines service for the night.

Our Board of Directors also extends thanks to James Tigani and Mark Bennett for opening up their Palm Beach home for a party recognizing PBCHRC’s achievements over the years. The event was organized by long term PBCHRC Volunteer Scott Kent, who was assisted by PBCHRC Past President Jamie Foreman-Plakas and PBCHRC Board Member Trent Steele. It was a fun evening and we received several thousand dollars in contributions from a handful of our major donors.

Robert Telford, West Palm Beach Mayor Jeri Muoio’s liaison to the LGBT community, recently informed PBCHRC that for the first time, the city participate in the 2015 Municipal Equality Index (MEI). MEI, which is coordinated by the Washington, DC-based Human Rights Campaign, examines the laws, policies, and services of municipalities and rates them on the basis of their inclusivity of LGBT people who live and work there. Last year, the MEI rated 353 cities from across the United States. The 16 Florida municipalities which participated in 2014 were Cape Coral, Fort Lauderdale, Hialeah, Hollywood, Jacksonville, Miami,  Miami Beach, Miami Shores, Oakland Park, Orlando, Pembroke Pines, Port Saint Lucie, St. Petersburg, Tallahassee, Tampa and, of course, Wilton Manors.

Since 1988, the Palm Beach County Human Rights Council has worked diligently on behalf of the LGBT community. Rest assured, we will continue to do so.

Judge Rand Hoch (retired),

President and Founder