Tuesday, February 25, 2020

Meet Our New Board Member - Janiece N. Davis, MPH

The Board of Directors of the Palm Beach County Human Rights Council is pleased to annouce the election of  Janiece Davis to our board.


Janiece Davis works to better the lives of residents who live, work, and play in Palm Beach County through the implementation of policy, systems, and environmental change related to tobacco use. She works to build private-public partnerships and fosters youth involvement in the policy process. Her efforts within the community have resulted in many successes, including collaborating with the School District of Palm Beach County to remove school districts from preemption within the Florida Clean Indoor Air Act and implementing the first comprehensive tobacco-free schools policy in Florida. 

Her work with mentoring youth resulted in HB 439 during the 2013 Florida Legislative Session, and collaborated with neighboring South Florida counties to develop a local campaign called Not a Replacement, which was chosen by the Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids as their official national campaign for Kick Butts Day 2015. She is the recipient of several awards and honors, and is a member of the Beta Upsilon Chapter of the Delta Omega Honorary Society in Public Health and Leadership Florida Connect Class IX. Ms. Davis received both her Master of Public Health and Bachelor of Science Degrees from the University of Florida. 

Pride on the Block - Sunday, March 8th from 4-10 pm

Please join PBCHRC for

Pride on the Block
 
500 Block of Clematis Street
West Palm Beach 
Sunday, March 8, 2020
4:00 to 10:00 p.m.



MEDIA RELEASE:PBCHRC Statement on State Representative Al Jacquet's Homophobic Slur

In response to the homophobic slur used by State Rep. Al Jacquet against Lake Worth Beach City Commission Omari Hardi, PBCHRC issues the following statement.

To view a video of Jacquet's rant, go to:

(West Palm Beach, Florida)  The Palm Beach County Human Rights Council (PBCHRC) received more than a dozen e-mails with links to State Representative Al Jacquet's video rants -- including he one in which he referred to Lake Worth Beach City Commissioner Omari Hardy as a "batty boy". 

According to Wikipedia, the term is a pejorative term often used to refer to a gay or effeminate man.

Jacquet's words are reprehensible.
 
Al Jacquet must immediately and genuinely apologize to Omari Hardy, the LGBTQ community, his colleagues in the Legislature, and his constituents. If he fails to do so, at the very least, Jacquet should be censured by The Florida House of Representatives -- if not removed from office. 

Judge Rand Hoch (ret.)
President and Founder
Palm Beach County Human Rights Council
(561) 358-0105
rand-hoch@usa.ne
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Sign Up and Vote Naked! PBCHRC Voters Alliance Endorsements

Why wait in line at the polls 
to cast your ballot
on March 17?
 
_______________

PLEASE SCROLL DOWN TO SEE
THE 
 
PBCHRC VOTERS ALLIANCE
ENDORSEMENTS

As a Palm Beach County voter, you may vote
in the privacy of your own home.  
But first, you must obtain a vote-by-mail ballot.

The deadline to request that a Vote-by-Mail ballot be mailed to you for the March 17, 2020, election is no later than 5:00 p.m. on March 7, 2020.  (If you miss the deadline, you can visit any of the offices of the Supervisor of Elections and they will print a mail ballot for you. Or you can vote in person during Early Voting or on Election Day.)


You may request for a Vote-by-Mail ballot
Your Vote-by-Mail ballot may be sent to your legal residence address, permanent mailing address or a temporary address. When sending a Vote-by-Mail ballot to an address not on file with the Florida Voter Registration System (such as your college address), the request must be in writing and signed by the voter. The online mail ballot request service system will notify you if the address is not already on file and you will be prompted to print, sign and submit your request to our office. Written signed requests may be made by mail, fax (561) 656-6230, or as an attachment to email votebymail@pbcelections.org.

Vote-by-mail return envelopes 
finally have prepaid postage, 
so there is no need to use stamps!

For more information about voting-by-mail 
in Palm Beach County, click here

If you receive a vote-by-mail ballot and wish to vote in person on Election Day, you MUST bring your ballot to the polls and turn it over to the poll workers before you can vote.

To track the status of your vote-by-mail ballot request from the time you submit it until the voted ballot is returned to the Office of the Palm Beach County Supervisor of Elections, go to the free Online Ballot tracking system by clicking here and following the easy directions. 

__________________________
 
Since 1988, the Palm Beach County Human Rights Council Voters Alliance (PBCHRCVA) has interviewed more than 1,000 candidates and has made endorsements in hundreds of races for public office. LGBTQ and allied voters have relied on our endorsements to elect candidates who, in turn, have enacted 135 laws and policies  benefiting the LGBTQ community. (There probably are more LGBTQ-supportive laws and policies in effect in Palm Beach County than in all of Florida's other 66 counties combined!) 

PBCHRCVA has been conducting face-to-face endorsement interviews with candidates for federal, state and local offices. PBCHRCVA endorsements are based on how a candidate has supported the local LGBTQ community. For candidates who hold (or have held) public office, we also consider how those candidates have voted on LGBTQ issues.


The following candidates have been endorsed by The Palm Beach County Human Rights Council Voters Alliance for election or re-election.  

Boca Raton Mayor - Scott Singer

Boynton Beach City Commission (Dist. 2) - Woodrow Hay
Boynton Beach City Commission (Dist. 4) - Ty Penserga

Delray Beach City Commission (Seat 2) - William Bathurst
Delray Beach City Commission (Seat 4) - Shirley Johnson

Haverhill Town Council (Seat 2) - Ray Caranci

Jupiter Town Council (Dist. 1) - Wayne Posner
North Palm Beach Village Council (Group 3) - Darryl C. Aubrey
Palm Beach Gardens City Council (Group 3) - Chelsea Reed
Palm Beach Shores Mayor - Myra Koutzen

West Palm Beach City Commission (Dist. 1) - Kelly Shoaf
West Palm Beach City Commission (Dist. 5) - Christina Lambert

________________________
  
Please note: PBCHRCVA has not made endorsements in every race
and not all of the listed candidates
will appear on your ballot.

PBCHRCVA is not only relying on you to vote in the upcoming election, we are also counting on you to share this e-mail with LGBTQ and allied voters, so progress on our issues can continue to be made.
 
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

Please join us for a chat with Walter Naegle


Palm Beach County Library
Okeechobee Boulevard Branch
5689 Okeechobee Boulevard
West Palm Beach

Walter Naegle is Bayard Rustin's surviving partner and executive director of the Bayard Rustin Fund, which commemorates Rustin's life, values and legacy.
In "Troublemaker for Justice: The Story of Bayard Rustin, the Man Behind the March on Washington," Walter Naegle traces the life of Bayard Rustin, a major figure in the civil rights movement-arrested on a bus 13 years before Rosa Parks, mentor to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.,organizer for the March on Washington. 

The book details Bayard Rustin's life of nonviolent activism and resistance, an often overlooked voice for immigrants and refugees, the poor, women and the LGBTQ community. Kirkus Reviews have named it the book a Best Book of 2019. 

Please register by using this link:

Saturday, February 8, 2020

2020 Daniel S. Hall Social Justice Awards


PBCHRC Treasurer Dan Hall and 
scholarship recipient Victor Espidol

The Palm Beach County Human Rights Council (PBCHRC) is accepting applications for the Daniel S. Hall Social Justice Award -- a college scholarship available to graduating LGBTQ+ high school seniors from Palm Beach County.

PBCHRC is a local, independent, nonprofit organization dedicated to ending discrimination based on sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender expression. Each year we award these scholarships to up to three local college-bound high school seniors who have demonstrated an interest in advocacy on behalf of the LGBTQ+ community.  

PBCHRC's Social Justice Award is named after Daniel S. Hall, a local attorney who manages a financial counseling company. Hall has served as PBCHRC's treasurer since 1990 and is the organization's longest serving board member. As a father of three, an activist, and a mentor of gay youth, Hall has always had a strong interest in education. 

To apply online, please go to:



Applications are due no later than midnight April 10, 2020