At the same time, the organization also rallied its members to attend the committee meeting to show support for the measure.
“We have another opportunity to make our voices heard,” wrote SAVE Executive Director Tony Lima in an email to supporters. “Passing this update is so important because everyone deserves the same opportunities and freedoms to provide for themselves and their families — it’s the core of the American Dream, and it’s long since time we had these protections on the books.”
Given that there is no statewide nondiscrimination statute on the books in Florida, the proposal is a critically needed policy for Miami-Dade County. Right now, it is legal to fire an individual working in the county just because they are transgender or gender nonconforming.
A large LGBT population calls South Florida home, and every other county in the surrounding metro area already offers these protections. Last year, after an attempt to pass a similar measure was blocked by an anti-equality commissioner, SAVE vowed to hold that commissioner accountable.
After an outpouring of support from the community, SAVE helped elect pro-equality champion Daniella Levine Cava to replace that commissioner in August. Given Levine Cava’s outspoken support for the measure, the win was hailed as a sweeping victory for human rights.
In the wake of that result, SAVE successfully lobbied for a new vote on the measure. In September, the entire Board of County Commissioners agreed unanimously to send the proposal to committee in the first of three separate votes required for final passage.
SAVE continues to lobby vigorously in support of the measure. If passed by the committee on Wednesday, the measure will then go once more before the entire Board of Commissioners for a vote on final approval in December. Supporters are urged to join SAVE at the County Commission meetingthis Wednesday morning by signing up online at savedade.org/hro.
MIAMI, FL — Today, leading South Florida LGBT advocacy organization SAVE (Safeguarding American Values for Everyone) urged the Public Safety & Animal Services Committee of the Miami-Dade County Commission to pass a proposal to extend nondiscrimination protections to transgender and gender nonconforming individuals. The committee has scheduled a vote on the measure forWednesday morning.
