Orange County mayor Teresa Jacobs, along with nearly two dozen Central Florida Republican leaders, signed a resolution pledging support for statewide legislation to ban discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity July 28, according to The Orlando Political Observer.
The resolution was presented at the Orange County Republican Executive Committee Lincoln Day Dinner by Jacobs.
“These are what I like to think are the new generation of Republicans,” said Jacobs. “What we grieved over a few weeks ago wasn’t a loss of gay people or Hispanic people, it was a loss of human beings. Human beings regardless of where they come from or who they love, had dreams and aspirations just like you and I.”
Jacobs spoke with 49 roses at the front of her podium, one rose meant to honor each life lost at the Pulse shooting June 12.
Orange County and the city of Orlando already offer protections for members of the LGBT community, as do nearly a dozen other counties and more than 30 cities and town; however, Florida at the state level does not.
The Florida Competitive Workforce Act, which has been introduced in the Florida House in some form since 2007, has died in committee each time. The Competitive Workforce Act seeks to protect LGBT people against discrimination in employment, housing and public accommodations.
The Republican officials who signed the effectively non-binding pledge are:
Orange County Mayor Teresa Jacobs
Congressman John Mica
Orange County Commissioner Scott Boyd
Orange County Commissioner Pete Clarke
Orange County Commissioner Ted Edwards
Orange County Commissioner Bryan Nelson
Orange County Republican Executive Committee Chairman Lew Oliver
State Representative Mike Miller
State Representative Rene Plasencia
Orange County School Board Chairman Bill Sublette
Orange County School Board member Christine Moore
Orlando Commissioner Jim Gray
Orlando Commissioner Tony Ortiz
Windermere Mayor Gary Bruhn
Winter Park Mayor Steve Leary
Maitland Mayor Dale McDonald
Edgewood Mayor Ray Bagshaw
Belle Isle Mayor Lydia Pisano
Oakland Mayor Kathy Stark
Edgewood City Council President John Dowless
Editor’s note: There’s much more to the story, we suspect, given some of the names and their associated positions (and positioning) riding up and down this list, but a good start is a good start, especially when you consider that there are many federal Republicans actively trying to roll back something as benign as marriage equality in coming years. More reporting to follow.
