LGBT-Supportive Laws and Policies in Palm Beach County, Florida - updated (11/20/16)

1.    1990 - Palm Beach County amends its Fair Housing Ordinance to protect gay men, lesbians and bisexuals from discrimination in housing, financing for housing, and in public accommodations. 

2.    1990 - Palm Beach County becomes the first public employer in Florida to amend the County's Affirmative Action Plan to protect gay and lesbian County employees from discrimination in County hiring and employment.   
3.    1991 - West Palm Beach becomes the first public employer in Florida to enact an ordinance prohibiting discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation in public employment.

4.    1991 - West Palm Beach adopts a policy prohibiting the use of any public funds for organizations or facilities which discriminate on the basis of several protected classes, including sexual orientation.    

5.    1991 - Boynton Beach adopts a policy prohibiting the use of any public funds for organizations or facilities which discriminate on the basis of several protected classes, including sexual orientation.

6.    1991 - Riviera  Beach adopts a policy prohibiting the use of any public funds for organizations or facilities which discriminate on the basis of several protected classes, including sexual orientation.

7.    1992 - West Palm Beach becomes the first public employer in Florida to provide domestic partnership benefits for municipal employees.

8.    1994 - West Palm Beach enacts an Equal Opportunity Ordinance prohibiting discrimination based on sexual orientation in private and public employment, housing and public accommodation.

Note:   1995 - Voters in West Palm Beach overwhelmingly reject the effort to repeal the Equal Opportunity Ordinance by a margin of 56% to 43%.  West Palm Beach becomes the first jurisdiction in Florida to withstand a repeal effort by popular vote.

9.    1996 - Lake Park enacts an Equal Opportunity/Minority and Women Business Enterprises Ordinance which prohibits discrimination based on  sexual orientation.

10.    1999 - Atlantis updates its Police Department’s Harassment and Discrimination in the Workplace Policy to include sexual orientation.

11.    2002 - The Palm Beach County Sheriffs' Office offers family health insurance coverage for employees with domestic partners.

12.    2002 - The Palm Beach County Board of County Commissioners amends the County's Equal Employment Ordinance to prohibit discrimination based on marital status and sexual orientation.

13.    2003 - West Palm Beach extends lifetime health insurance benefits to the surviving domestic partner of any city employee killed in the line of duty

14.    2003 - The Palm Beach County School Board adopts a policy to protect students against harassment based on actual or perceived sexual orientation.

15.    2003 - Lake Worth amends the city's Civil Rights Act to prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation.

16.    2004 - The Office of the Clerk and Comptroller offers family health insurance coverage for employees with domestic partners.

17.    2004 - The Office of the Supervisor of Elections becomes the first local public employer to prohibit discrimination based on gender identity and expression.

18.    2004 - The Port of Palm Beach offers family health insurance coverage for employees with domestic partners.

19.    2004 - Lake Worth offers family health insurance coverage for employees with domestic partners.

20.    2004 - The Palm Beach County Property Appraiser offers family health insurance coverage for employees with domestic partners.

21.    2005 - West Palm Beach establishes a Domestic Partnership Registry.
  
22.    2005 - Belle Glade amends its Equal Employment Opportunity Policy to include sexual orientation

23.    2006 - Belle Glade enacts s Special Event Permit Ordinance specifically prohibiting discrimination based on “sexual orientation or gender related grounds.”

24.    2006 - Palm Beach County offers family health insurance coverage for employees with domestic partners.

25.    2006 - The School District of Palm Beach County offers family health insurance coverage for employees with domestic partners.

26.    2006 - The Office of the Supervisor of Elections offers family health insurance coverage for employees with domestic partners.

27.    2006 - The Office of the Tax Collector revises its non-discrimination policy to prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation.

28.    2006 - The Office of the Tax Collector offers family health insurance coverage for employees with domestic partners.

29.    2006 - Palm Beach County establishes a Domestic Partnership Registry.

30.    2006 - Delray Beach offers family health insurance coverage for employees with domestic partners.

31.    2006 - The Palm Beach County School Board adopts a Commercial Nondiscrimination Policy which prohibits the School District from doing business with firms which discriminate on the basis of race, gender, religion, national origin, ethnicity, sexual orientation, age, disability, or any other form of unlawful discrimination.

32,    2006 - The Board of Trustees of Florida Atlantic University trustees adopts an Anti-Discrimination and Anti-Harassment Regulation covering all classes protected by law.  (Gay men and lesbians at FAU's Palm Beach and Broward campuses would be covered under the regulation because such discrimination is prohibited by county ordinances.)

33.    2006 -  West Palm Beach extends health insurance continuation coverage (COBRA) to city employees with domestic partners.

34.    2006 - Palm Tran offers family health insurance coverage for employees with domestic partners.

35.    2007-  West Palm Beach amends its Equal Opportunity Ordinance to prohibit discrimination based on gender identity or expression  in private and public employment, housing and public accommodation.

36.    2007 - Lake Worth amends the city's Civil Rights Act to prohibit discrimination based on gender identity and expression.

37.    2007 - Jupiter offers family health insurance coverage for employees with domestic partners.

38.    2007 - Juno Beach revises its non-discrimination and harassment awareness policies to include sexual orientation.

39.    2007 - Juno Beach revises the definition of "immediate family" with regard to bereavement leave to include an employee's "significant other."

40.    2007 - Hypoluxo amends its non-discrimination policy to prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation.

41.    2007 - The Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office amends its nondiscrimination policy to prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation and marital status.

42.    2007 - The Health Care District of Palm Beach County offers family health insurance coverage for employees with domestic partners.

43.    2007 - The Solid Waste Authority updates its nondiscrimination policies in early 2007 to include sexual orientation

44.    2007 - The Solid Waste Authority offers family health insurance coverage for employees with domestic partners.
                              
45.    2007 - Palm Beach County amends its Equal Employment Ordinance to prohibit discrimination based on gender identity and expression.

46.    2007 - Tequesta enacts comprehensive policies prohibiting discrimination based on sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression.

47.    2007 - Royal Palm Beach amends its Equal Employment Opportunity Policy and its Anti-Harassment and Anti-Discrimination Policy to prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation.

48.    2007 - Palm Beach Gardens City Council implements basic domestic partner benefits for city employees.

49.    2008 - Palm Beach Community College offers family health insurance coverage for employees with domestic partners.

50.    2008 - The Palm Beach County School Board expands the definition of "family" in the School District's Leave of Absence policy to include employees' domestic partners and their children.

51.    2008 - The Palm Beach County School Board includes sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression  as protected classes in a comprehensive policy protecting students against bullying and harassment.

52.    2008 - Tequesta revises its collective bargaining agreements and its employee handbook to include domestic partners as members of employee's immediate family.
53.    2008 - The South Florida Water Management Districts amends its policies to prohibit harassment based on gender identity or expression.

54.    2009 - The Palm Beach County Children's Services Council offers family health insurance coverage for employees with domestic partners.

55.    2009 - Seacoast Utility Authority offers family health insurance coverage for employees with domestic partners.

56.    2009 - The School District of Palm Beach County includes the children of employees' domestic partners as eligible dependents for health insurance coverage.

57.    2010 - The Palm Beach County School Board revises all of the School District’s  nondiscrimination policies to prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression.

58.    2011 - Wellington offers family health insurance coverage for employees with domestic partners.

59.    2011 - Wellington amends their non-discrimination policies to prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression.

60.    2011 - The Office of the State Attorney revises its Harassment Policy to include gender identity or expression.

61.    2011 - The Office of the State Attorney revises its Family Medical Leave Policy to provide the same benefits to families based on domestic partnerships as are provided to families based on legally recognized marriages.

62.    2011 - West Palm Beach revises its Family Medical Leave Policy to provide the same benefits to families based on domestic partnerships as are provided to families based on legally recognized marriages.      

63.    2011 - The Office of the Public Defender revises its Family Medical Leave Policy to provide the same benefits to families based on domestic partnerships as are provided to families based on legally recognized marriages.

64.    2011 - Palm Beach County revises its Family Medical Leave Policy to provide the same benefits to families based on domestic partnerships as are provided to families based on legally recognized marriages.

65.    2011 - The Board of Trustees of Florida Atlantic University adds sexual orientation to the school’s Anti-Discrimination and Anti-Harassment Regulation.

66.    2012 - Delray Beach revises its Family Medical Leave Policy to provide the same benefits to families based on domestic partnerships as are provided to families based on legally recognized marriages.

67.    2012 - Palm Beach County amends its Nondiscrimination in Contracting Policy to include gender identity or expression.

68.    2012 - The West Palm Beach Housing Authority adds gender identity or expression to its nondiscrimination policy.

69.    2012 - The Office of the Clerk and Comptroller revises its Family Medical Leave Policy to provide the same benefits to families based on domestic partnerships as are provided to families based on legally recognized marriages.

70.    2013 - Palm Beach County Property Appraiser Gary Nikolits implements a tax equity policy providing eligible employees with domestic partners a $500 annual stipend to offset the additional federal income taxes which assessed on employees whose domestic partners receive health insurance through their employers.

71.    2013 - Palm Beach County's Constitutional Tax Collector Anne Gannon implements a tax equity policy providing eligible employees with domestic partners a $500 annual stipend to offset the additional federal income taxes which assessed on employees whose domestic partners receive health insurance through their employers.

72.    2013 - The Town of South Palm Beach adds "sexual orientation" and "any other legally protected status" to the Town's nondiscrimination statement.

73.    2013 - The Palm Beach County Solid Waste Authority adds gender identity or expression to its nondiscrimination policy.

74.    2013 - The City of Delray Beach updates its policy against discrimination, harassment and bullying to include both "sexual orientation" and "gender identity or expression."   

75.    2013 - The City of West Palm Beach enacts a tax equity reimbursement policy to reimburse municipal employees insuring their domestic partners for the full amount of the additional federal income taxes which are assessed on employees whose domestic partners receive health insurance through their employers.

76.    2013 - Florida Atlantic University offers a domestic partnership stipend to university employees and allows employees to use sick leave to care for their domestic partners.

77.    2013 - The Palm Beach Town Council votes 4-1 to implement the full range of domestic partnership benefits for Town employees.

78.    2013 -  Palm Beach County enacts a tax equity reimbursement policy to reimburse municipal employees insuring their domestic partners for the full amount of the additional federal income taxes which are assessed on employees whose domestic partners receive health insurance through their employers.

79.    2013 - The City of Boca Raton amends its personnel rules and regulations to prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression.

80.    2013 - The City of Boca Raton extends the jurisdiction of the Community Relations Board to include the city's lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender residents.

81.    2013 - The City of Boca Raton extends the full range of domestic partnership benefits to its municipal employees. The benefits include health, dental and vision insurance, continuation of insurance coverage (identical to coverage under the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act, or COBRA), funeral leave, domestic violence leave, family sick leave and domestic partner leave (identical to coverage by the Family and Medical Leave Act, or FMLA).

82.    2013 - The City of Palm Beach Gardens offers full domestic partnership health insurance benefits to its municipal employees.

83.    2014 -  The Clerk and Comptroller for Palm Beach County implements a tax equity reimbursement policy to reimburse employees insuring their domestic partners for the full amount of the additional federal income taxes which are assessed on employees whose domestic partners receive health insurance through their employers.

84.    2014 - Lake Worth establishes a Domestic Partnership Registry.

85.    2014 - Lake Worth implements a tax equity reimbursement policy to reimburse employees insuring their domestic partners for the full amount of the additional federal income taxes which are assessed on employees whose domestic partners receive health insurance through their employers.

86.    2014 - The City of West Palm Beach enacts and Equal Benefits Ordinance requiring city contractors to provide the same family benefits to employees with domestic partners and same-sex spouses as they provided to employees whose marriages are recognized by the state of Florida.

87.    2014 - The City of Boynton Beach amends its personnel policies to prohibit discrimination based on gender identity and expression.

88.    2014 - The City of Boynton Beach extends the full range of domestic partnership benefits to its municipal employees.

89.    2014 - The Palm Beach County Board of County Commissioners unanimously votes to establish a policy stating that the County shall not do business with, or appropriate funds to, any public or private organization which practices discrimination on the basis of race, color, national origin, religion, ancestry, sex, age, marital status, familial status, sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, disability or genetic information.

90.    2014 -  The Town of Lake Park updates its Equal Employment Policy to prohibit discrimination based on "gender identity or expression"

91.    2015 - The Port of Palm Beach includes an LGBT-inclusive nondiscrimination clause in their contract with Bahamas Paradise Cruiseline.

92.    2015 - The Farmworker Coordinating Council of Palm Beach County updates its nondiscrimination policy to prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression.

93.    2015 - The City of Boynton Beach enacts an LGBT-inclusive Civil Rights Ordinance.

94.    2015 - The City of  Riviera Beach amends its Anti-Discrimination and Anti-Harassment Policy to include both "sexual orientation" and "gender identity or expression".

95.    2015 - The City of Greenacres enacts an LGBT-inclusive Civil Rights Ordinance.

96.    2015 - The City of Delray Beach enacts an LGBT-inclusive Civil Rights Ordinance.

97.    2015 - Florida Atlantic University amends Regulation 5.010, Anti-discrimination and Anti-harassment, to include "gender identity and expression".

98.    2015 - The Town of Lake Clarke Shores unanimously adopts  an LGBT-inclusive resolution supporting freedom from discrimination for all individuals.

99.    2015 - The Town of Haverhill adopts an LGBT-inclusive resolution supporting freedom from discrimination for all individuals.

100.    2015 - The Palm Beach County Board of County Commissioners  votes to vastly expand the  definition of "places of public accommodation" in the Palm Beach County Ordinance for Equal Opportunity to Housing and Places of Public Accommodation. 

101.    2015 - The Village of Wellington enacts an LGBT-inclusive Civil Rights Ordinance.

102.    2015 - The West Palm Beach City Commission votes to vastly expand the  definition of "public accommodations" in the West Palm Beach Equal Opportunity Ordinance.

103.   2015 - The School District of Palm Beach County replaces the phrase “personal life style (including sexual orientation)” with the phrases “gender identity and/or gender expression” and “sexual orientation” in the Discrimination and Harassment article in the School District’s collective bargaining agreement with the teachers’ union.

104.    2015 - The South Florida Water Management District announced that it prohibits transgender workers from being harassed and discriminated against based on both "sexual orientation" and "gender identity or expression" even if they work in a jurisdiction that has no LGBT-inclusive rights laws.

105.    2016 -  The Town of Haverhill amended its Equal Employment Opportunity  Policy to prohibit discrimination against Town employees based on "sexual orientation" and "gender identity or expression".

106.    2016 -  The Town of Haverhill amended its Anti-Harassment Policy to prohibit harassment against Town employees based on "sexual orientation" and "gender identity or expression".

107.  2016 - The Lake Worth City Commission amends the city’s Fair Housing Act to prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity or expression.

108.  2016 - The Lake Worth City Commission amends the city’s Merit Services policy to prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity or expression.

109.  2016 - The Lake Worth City Commission amends the city’s Procurement Code to ensure equal opportunity based on sexual orientation and gender identity or expression.

110.  2016 -  The Town of Lake Clarke Shores amends its Anti-Harassment Policy to prohibit harassment against Town employees based on "gender identity or expression."

111.   2016 - The City of West Palm Beach updated its procurement code to expressly prohibit  discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity or expression.

112.   2016 - The City of West Palm Beach updated its health insurance policies to include transgender related care for municipal employees.

113.   2016 - The City of West Palm Beach enacts a ban on conversion therapy on minors.
 

PBCHRC Founder Rand Hoch to Receive PBSC's Dr. King Award

 By Town-Crier Editor at January 1, 2016

 

Palm Beach State College will present retired judge Rand Hoch with the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Leadership Award during the school’s annual Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration on Thursday, Jan. 14.

The event attracts hundreds of students, faculty, staff and members of the community each year.
Hoch was nominated for the award by attorney Rae Franks, a law school classmate who has worked with him on numerous civil rights projects for many years.

“In law school, Rand and I shared a passion for advancing workers’ rights,” Franks said. “Over the years, he has worked tirelessly as a pro bono advocate, activist and organizer working to secure equal rights for minorities and women.”

Hoch became a political activist while still in his teens, growing up in Massachusetts in the 1960s. As a key organizer in the voting rights movement, Hoch, at the time a high school student, was one of only a handful of people invited to witness the bill lowering the voting age signed into law.

Throughout his college and law school years, Hoch remained immersed in political causes. When he moved to Palm Beach County in the 1980s, his law practice centered on representing workers and unions.

In 1988, Hoch founded the Palm Beach County Human Rights Council, a nonprofit organization dedicated to ending discrimination based on sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression. Under his leadership, the council has been successful in having civil rights laws enacted which secure protected status for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) individuals in private and public employment, housing and public accommodations.

Hoch was also instrumental in having the Palm Beach County School District adopt a comprehensive policy protecting public school students from harassment and bullying. To date, Hoch has been responsible for the enactment of more than 100 laws and policies extending equal rights and benefits to the LGBT Floridians. “With this award, Palm Beach State College has recognized the civil rights work done by the Palm Beach County Human Rights Council over the years,” Hoch said. “It is a humbling experience to receive an award honoring Dr. King.”

In 2005, Palm Beach State College unveiled a 5-foot granite monument and named a courtyard on its Lake Worth in honor of the civil rights leader. The Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration is free and open to the public. It will take place on the Lake Worth campus on Thursday, Jan. 14 at 11 a.m. The keynote speaker for the celebration will be Morehouse College Professor Dr. Marc Lamont Hill. In 2011, Ebony magazine named him one of America’s 100 most influential black leaders.

To RSVP to the event, visit www.palmbeachstate.edu/mlk.