PBCHRC Voters Alliance endorses Priscilla Taylor for Mayor of West Palm Beach

The Palm Beach County Human Rights Council Voters Alliance has endorsed hundreds of candidates for office since 1988 based on the following criteria:

• How a candidate has voted on LGBTQ issues
• How a candidate has supported the Palm Beach County LGBTQ Community

In the race to replace Jeri Muoio as Mayor of West Palm Beach, all three candidates -- Keith James, Paula Ryan and Priscilla Taylor -- have been outspoken in support of our issues. All have 100% voting records on our initiatives. And all supported the LGBTQ community by participating in community events for longer than they have been in public office. 

All three candidates are qualified to serve as Mayor and we have no doubt that the next Maor of West palm Beach will do an excellent job serving the city's LGBTQ community.

The first decision we had to make was whether to co-endorse all three candidates or endorse the strongest candidate based on our criteria. After extensive deliberation, we determined it was best to endorse the candidate with the strongest record of support for the LGBTQ community.

Following a thorough review of their records, we interviewed the three candidates. 

Ultimately, the Palm Beach County Human Rights Council Voters Alliance endorsed Priscilla Taylor for Mayor of West Palm Beach, based on her outstanding record of support dating back to 1999 when she began her public service as a Port Commissioner.

Priscilla Taylor

As a Port Commissioner, Priscilla led the successful campaign to secure family health insurance coverage for employees with domestic partners.

As a State Representative, Priscilla co-sponsored PBCHRC's initiatives to amend Florida's Educational Equity Act, the Florida Civil Rights Act and Florida's Fair Housing Act to protect our community against discrimination. She also co-sponsored Equality Florida's Competitive Workforce Act.

As County Commissioner, Priscilla was instrumental in having Palm Beach County:

• amend the Equal Employment Ordinance and the Nondiscrimination in Contracting Policy to prohibit discrimination based on gender identity and expression,
• extend family health insurance coverage to the domestic partners of county employees,
• establish a countywide domestic partnership registry.
• revise the Family Medical Leave Policy to provide the same benefits to the families of County employees based on domestic partnerships as were provided to families based on legally recognized marriages,
• enact a tax equity reimbursement policy to reimburse County 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,
• establish a policy prohibiting the County from doing business with, or appropriating funds to, any public or private organization which practiced discrimination on the basis of "sexual orientation" and "gender identity or expression",
• 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,
• amend the definition of "sexual orientation" in the Equal Employment Ordinance from "male or female homosexuality, heterosexuality and bisexuality, by preference or practice" to "heterosexuality, homosexuality, bisexuality or asexuality, whether actual or perceived",
• update health insurance policies for County employees to include transgender-related care, and 
• enact an ordinance banning conversion therapy for minors throughout the County.

Clearly, there are few public officials in Florida wh can hold a candle to Priscilla's support of the LGBTQ community.  She will be an excellent Mayor of West Palm Beach. 

This paid electioneering communication, which is independent of any party, candidate or committee, is produced, sponsored and paid for by the Palm Beach County Human Rights Council Voters Alliance.

The Palm Beach County Human Rights Council Voters Alliance.

Post Office Box 267

West Palm Beach, Florida 33402

What has PBCHRC ever done for the trans community?

Paid staffers at a statewide LGBTQ rights organization in Florida has been attacking PBCHRC and others on social media for "leaving the transgender community behind". Here is just one example:

The organization is basing its attack on a PBCHRC legislative strategy way back in 2007. Interestingly, that was the year PBCHRC's bill in the Florida House of Representatives to amend the Florida Civil Rights Act and Florida's Fair Housing Act included both "sexual orientation" and "gender ifentity or expression."! But our 2007 bill, like every LGBTQ-supportive bill ever filed in the Florida Legislature since the aforerefereced organization was founded in 1997, was dead on arrival.

So, let's set the record straight.

Of the 136 laws and policies PBCHRC is responsible for enacting since 1990, sixty-three are trans-supportive.  Here they are:

Trans-Supportive  Laws and Policies 

in Palm Beach County

1. 2004 - The Office of the Supervisor of Elections becomes the first local public employer to prohibit discrimination based on gender identity and expression.

2. 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.

3. 2007 - Lake Worth amends the city's Civil Rights Act to prohibit discrimination based on gender identity and expression.

4. 2007 - Palm Beach County amends its Equal Employment Ordinance to prohibit discrimination based on gender identity and expression.

5. 2007 - Tequesta enacts comprehensive policies prohibiting discrimination based on sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression.

6. 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.

7. 2008 - The South Florida Water Management Districts amends its policies to prohibit harassment based on gender identity or expression.

8. 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.

9. 2011 - Wellington amends their non-discrimination policies to prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression.

10. 2011 - The Office of the State Attorney revises its Harassment Policy to include gender identity or expression.

11. 2012 - Palm Beach County amends its Nondiscrimination in Contracting Policy to include gender identity or expression.

12. 2012 - The West Palm Beach Housing Authority adds gender identity or expression to its nondiscrimination policy.

13. 2013 - The Town of South Palm Beach adds "sexual orientation" and "any other legally protected status" to the Town's nondiscrimination statement.

14. 2013 - The Palm Beach County Solid Waste Authority adds gender identity or expression to its nondiscrimination policy.

15. 2013 - The City of Delray Beach updates its policy against discrimination, harassment and bullying to include both "sexual orientation" and "gender identity or expression."    

16. 2013 - The City of Boca Raton amends its personnel rules and regulations to prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression.

17. 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.

18. 2014 - The City of Boynton Beach amends its personnel policies to prohibit discrimination based on gender identity and expression.

19. 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. 

20. 2014 -  The Town of Lake Park updates its Equal Employment Policy to prohibit discrimination based on "gender identity or expression"

21. 2015 - The Port of Palm Beach includes an LGBT-inclusive nondiscrimination clause in their contract with Bahamas Paradise Cruiseline.

22. 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.

23. 2015 - The City of Boynton Beach enacts an LGBT-inclusive Civil Rights Ordinance.

24. 2015 - The City of  Riviera Beach amends its Anti-Discrimination and Anti-Harassment Policy to include both "sexual orientation" and "gender identity or expression".

25. 2015 - The City of Greenacres enacts an LGBT-inclusive Civil Rights Ordinance.

26. 2015 - The City of Delray Beach enacts an LGBT-inclusive Civil Rights Ordinance.

27. 2015 - Florida Atlantic University amends Regulation 5.010, Anti-discrimination and Anti-harassment, to include "gender identity and expression".

28. 2015 - The Town of Lake Clarke Shores unanimously adopts an LGBT-inclusive resolution supporting freedom from discrimination for all individuals.

29. 2015 - The Town of Haverhill adopts an LGBT-inclusive resolution supporting freedom from discrimination for all individuals. 

30. 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.  

31. 2015 - The Village of Wellington enacts an LGBT-inclusive Civil Rights Ordinance.

32. 2015 - The West Palm Beach City Commission votes to vastly expand the definition of "public accommodations" in the West Palm Beach Equal Opportunity Ordinance.

33. 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.

34. 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. 

35. 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".

36. 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".

37. 2016 - The Lake Worth City Commission amended the city’s Fair Housing Act to prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity or expression.

38. 2016 - The Lake Worth City Commission amended the city’s Merit Services policy to prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity or expression.

39. 2016 - The Lake Worth City Commission amended the city’s Procurement Code to ensure equal opportunity based on sexual orientation and gender identity or expression.

40. 2016 - The Town of Lake Clarke Shores updated its Anti-Harassment Policy to specifically include "gender identity or expression" among the protected classes.

41. 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.

42. 2016 - The City of West Palm Beach updated its health insurance policies to include transgender-related care for municipal employees.

43. 2016 - The City of West Palm Beach enacts an ordinance banning conversion therapy for minors.

44. 2016 - The 15th Judicial Circuit updated its Civil Rights Complaint Procedure to specifically include complaints of discrimination based on "gender identity or expression".

45. 2016 - The 15th Judicial Circuit updated its Code of Conduct for Non-Judicial Employees to prohibit discrimination based on "gender identity and expression”.

46. 2017 - The City of Lake Worth enacts an ordinance banning conversion therapy for minors.

47. 2017 - The City of Boynton Beach enacts an ordinance banning conversion therapy for minors.

48. 2017 - The Palm Beach County Board of County Commissioners amends the definition of “sexual orientation" in the County’s Equal Employment Ordinance from "male or female homosexuality, heterosexuality and bisexuality, by preference or practice" to   "heterosexuality, homosexuality, bisexuality or asexuality, whether actual or perceived." 

49. 2017 - The City of Delray Beach enacts an ordinance banning conversion therapy for minors.

50. 2017 - The City of Riviera Beach enacts an ordinance banning conversion therapy for minors.

51. 2017 - The City of Delray Beach enacts an ordinance banning conversion therapy for minors.

52. 2017 - The Town of Jupiter enacts a Fair and Impartial Policing Statement which provides that police officers “shall not consider race, ethnicity, national origin, religion, age, gender identity or sexual orientation in establishing either reasonable suspicion, probable cause, or as a basis for requesting consent to search.”

53. 2017 - The City of Riviera Beach enacts an ordinance banning conversion therapy for minors.

54. 2017 - Palm Beach County updated its health insurance policies to include transgender-related care for county employees.

55. 2017 - The Village of Wellington enacts an ordinance banning  conversion therapy for minors.

56. 2017 - The City of Greenacres  enacts an ordinance banning  conversion therapy for minors.

57. 2017 - The City of Boca Raton enacts an ordinance banning  conversion therapy for minors.

58. 2017 - Palm Beach County becomes the first county in Florida – and the largest county in the United States – to enact an ordinance banning conversion therapy for minors.

59. 2018 - The Village of Royal Palm Beach adopts an LGBT-inclusive civil rights resolution.

60. 2018 - The City of West Palm Beach adopts an LGBTQ-inclusive resolution affirming its commitment to address and eliminate bullying at city facilities and in city programs. 

61. 2018 - The School Board of Palm Beach County adopts Policy 1.041, Equity Policy, to show the Board’s commitment to eliminating race, ethnicity, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, disability or socioeconomic status as predictors for academic success.

62. 2018 - The Town of Ocean Ridge enacts an LGBT-inclusive civil rights ordinance.

63. 2018 - The School Board of Palm Beach County amends Policy 0.01, Commitment to Students, to prohibit discrimination and harassment by educators based on students' sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender expression.

New Legislation Filed to End LGBTQ Workplace Discrimination in Florida

January 18. 2019

LGBTQ leaders unite in lauding a bi-partisan approach 

to passing the Florida Inclusion Workplace Act (FIWA)

January 22, 2019

(Tallahassee, Florida) Florida State Senator Joe Gruters (R-Sarasota) introduced legislation this afternoon to protect LGBTQ Floridians from discrimination in the workplace.  

The Florida Inclusion Workforce Act (FIWA) focuses on ensuring that Florida will be able to retain the best talent in its workforce by adding sexual orientation and gender identity to Florida's Civil Rights Act, helping to strengthen Florida's economic future.

Senator Gruters introduced the bill in cooperation with SAVE Florida and the Palm Beach County Human Rights Council, with the participation of Translatina and Conservatives on the Right of Equality. Just last week, Gruters was elected chairman of the Republican Party of Florida.

"Senator Gruters' bill is sharply focused on the key economic discrimination faced by LGBTQ Floridians -- discrimination in the workplace,"  said retired judge Rand Hoch, President and Founder of the Palm Beach County Human Rights Council (PBCHRC). "Achieving this first step will open the door, enabling us to move forward to protect our community in every part of Florida and in every area of our lives."

"Thanks to the efforts of Senator Joe Gruters, the LGBTQ community has a new champion in the Florida Senate," said Tony Lima, Executive Director of SAVE Florida. "Protecting LGBTQ workers from discrimination will take a bi-partisan effort. Years and years of partisan attacks have killed any chance of success for a comprehensive non-discrimination bill in Tallahassee -- until now."

"With Senator Gruters' leadership, there is finally a real opportunity to enact these much-needed workplace protections," Lima added.

Legislation to protect Florida's gay community from discrimination in employment, housing, and public accommodations was first introduced in 2007 by then-State Senator/now-Congressman Ted Deutch (D-Boca Raton) at the request of PBCHRC. 

In 2008, working closely with then-State Senator Jeff Atwater (R-North Palm Beach), Deutch garnered bipartisan support and the bill passed the Senate Commerce Committee. That vote on the Deutch-Atwater legislation marked the only time a gay rights bill moved forward in the Florida Legislature.  

When it became obvious in 2010, that the bill was going to be dead on arrival, PBCHRC passed the baton to Equality Florida.The organization rebranded the bill the Competitive Workforce Act and unsuccessfully lobbied for its passage for the 9 legislative sessions. The bill never was heard in the Florida House of Representatives and the one time it was heard by a Florida Senate committee, it failed to pass.

"For the past decade, passing protections for the LGBTQ community was not made a legislative priority," said former State Representative David Richardson (D-Miami Beach). "Continuing to rely on a failed strategy -- and a bill that has floundered for years -- no longer makes sense."

"Policy change is often incremental," acknowledged Richardson.  "I applaud Senator Gruters' for his fresh approach which is fully inclusive of the LGBT community."

   

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About PBCHRC

The Palm Beach County Human Rights Council is Florida's oldest, independent, non-partisan, political organization dedicated to ending discrimination based on sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression. The organization promotes equality, through education, advocacy, direct action, impact litigation, and community outreach. 

About Save Florida

SAVE Florida is a bi-partisan initiative designed to ensure protections for the LGBTQ community in the workforce, public services, and accommodations in partnership with the Palm Beach County Human Rights Council, Translatina and Conservatives on the Right of Equality.