Living Loud: Resolve to fight for a statewide DPR in 2014

Like Ralphie in A Christmas Story who yearned for his perfect present, I yearn for mine: equal protection under the law. The thought of it consumes me daily, just as the BB gun consumed Ralphie. And although this past year saw some exciting advances for LGBT equality across the nation, here in Florida we could only watch from the sidelines.

Sure, 16 states plus D.C. now have full marriage equality, covering approximately 37% of the U.S. population. And sure, the married same-sex couples in those states now are entitled to all of the federal rights and benefits attached to marriage, thanks to the Supreme Court striking down Section 3 of DOMA. So yes, let’s spike the eggnog and drink a toast to them, but what about Florida?

There are still 34 states (including ours), and 67% of the population (including us), that do not have marriage equality. Florida has both a statutory and constitutional ban prohibiting same-sex marriage, and neither will be easily or quickly overturned, although great minds are strategizing now on how to accomplish that.

Florida’s same-sex couples could be denied the 1,100-plus federal marriage rights and benefits, as well as the additional hundreds of marriage rights and benefits afforded by state law, for years to come. (Florida same-sex couples married in other states have gained limited access to some federal rights, like jointly filing income taxes.) The Sunshine State’s elected government in Tallahassee has steadfastly refused to recognize same-sex relationships whatsoever, or provide any legal protections to our families.

So while equal protection under the law remains as elusive as ever this holiday season, we can wallow on the sidelines for several more years or we can join the fight to force constructive change in this state right now. There is something we can accomplish, short of our ultimate goal of marriage equality, which will help thousands of couples and their families in 2014. We must demand statewide recognition of domestic partnerships.

Many of us have dedicated the last several years to advocating for the immediately tangible legal protections available through local Domestic Partnership Registries (DPRs). Currently, eight of Florida’s 67 counties, and a handful of cities, provide DPRs which offer a limited bundle of six or seven rights for gay couples and their families. Those protections like hospital visitation and medical decisions, emergency notification, and the right to bury a deceased partner vary among jurisdictions and are only available within the boundaries of the specific county or city that issued the DPR.

We must fight to protect the families in the other 59 counties who have no protections, and to eliminate the existing patchwork of conflicting protections by supporting a statewide DPR. Your protections should not be limited by where in Florida you live or happen to be on a particular day when a crisis strikes.

Supportive legislators have introduced bills for a statewide DPR for the past several years, but they have always been summarily killed without even a hearing. That changed this past year, when Senator Eleanor Sobel asked me to draft a completely new DPR bill, which she sponsored and was able to procure a historic first-ever Committee hearing (on any LGBT issue), where the bill was approved by a bipartisan vote just before the Legislative session expired.

Next session, we are going back to Tallahassee, with Senator Sobel sponsoring the Senate bill and Representative Linda Stewart sponsoring the House bill. There is real momentum behind these bills, but it will still be an uphill climb, and we will need your help in Tallahassee. Let’s tell our government why this is urgently important.

Remember Orlando writer, Billy Manes, who endured heartbreaking injustices when his partner of 11 years died, and his homophobic in-laws swooped in and took Alan’s body and tried to take virtually everything Billy owned. Remember Joyce Ducas, who had all of the recommended contractual documents when her longtime partner, Claudia, entered the hospital with lymphoma, where hospital personnel refused to honor the documents. When Claudia died seven months later, the funeral home refused to deal with Joyce in making Claudia’s funeral arrangements.  There are Billys and Joyces living throughout Florida who are suffering, or about to suffer, these injustices every single day. They need help now, not five years from now.

LGBT advocates are laying the groundwork and are fighting for full marriage equality nationwide even as we speak. But in the meantime, we must fight for the very critical legal protections afforded by a statewide DPR. We need every one of you to join us in this fight. We must stand together, speak to our legislators and drive to Tallahassee when needed for committee hearings. (Don’t think the anti-gay extremists won’t already be there talking to those same legislators. They will be.)

So clink your glasses to the recent advances, but please join this DPR fight and resolve to make 2014 a Happier New Year for the 1 million LGBT people living in Florida.