Let’s all think back to 1988, shall we? There were acid-washed jeans beneath giant Aquanet hair installations, there were Winter Olympics, Michael Dukakis was a thing, I got my driver’s license, the first World AIDS Day was recognized (even though the U.S. government had done a shoddy job of even acknowledging our “gay cancer”) and we were all in some odd election flux that resulted in a Bush growing by the side of the White House. More importantly, however, that’s the year that 38-year-old Martha Ogden Haynie joined Orange County government as its comptroller. Haynie, a Republican with a gorgeous southern drawl, has always been an ally for the LGBT community as well as an activist and donor to LGBT and human rights causes. Come this morning, some 27 years since her taking her seat on the Orange County dais, the Orlando Sentinel reports that Haynie, she who fought for the rights of the few and the finances of the many, has decided not to run again for her eighth term. Our first reaction was to run for the cabinet and eat all of the Oreos (ALL OF THEM), but then we realized that three decades of public service beneath one good and two questionable mayors is probably enough. She has grandkids, she says. She wants to spend more time living life, she says.
Lest we forget, it was Haynie who bucked up against the Dr. Phillips Performing Arts Center when its finances were at its most frivolous. Lest we forget, it was Haynie who stood strong throughout the painfully unnecessary battle against a true Domestic Partnership Registry prior to this year’s marriage equality judgment by the Supreme Court. Lest we forget, Mayor Teresa Jacobs didn’t even show up for that announcement, because she must have been on her cellphone with lobbyists (Hello, Textgate). Lest we forget, Haynie is a hero.
We’ll have more on Haynie’s career later. We’ll also have more on the behind-the-scenes grumbles about her replacement. For now, though, let’s just love on Martha Haynie, a true hero.
“I have lots of things I want to do, grandchildren to play with, and people I love to take care of,” she told the Sentinel.
Well, thanks for taking care of us. And congratulations.
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