Florida Agenda

By BOB KECSKEMETY
It appears the political pundits could have announced the final election results prior to Tuesday’s voting because all the pieces of the puzzle seemed to fall into their correct (or incorrect, depending on your point of view) place as predicted — like it or not.

Unfortunately, recent equal rights gained in Florida by the LGBT community now are less certain — especially the newly-gained right to adopt children. Both current Governor Charlie Crist and current Attorney General Bill McCollum have refused to challenge the court ruling permitting gay adoption in Florida.The same can’t be said for newly-elected Attorney General Pam Bondi (R) who said she would challenge the court decision and take that right away. Bondi ran against Dan Gelber (D) and won with 55% of the vote.

Democrat Alex Sink barely lost her bid to become Florida’s Governor to Republican Rick Scott by less than 2%. Scott too had said he would challenge gays’ right to adopt. Not surprising, Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties were the last to finish counting their votes. Statewide, it was no surprise that Republican Marco Rubio won the U.S. Senate race with 49% of the vote with  Governor Charlie Crist (I) coming in second with 30% and Representative Kendrick Meek (D) picking up the leftovers. These final results were representative of most of the state, however, in South Florida, the final results were an almost 3-way even split with Crist slightly ahead.

Nationwide, after four years in the minority, Republicans have regained control of the U.S. House of Representative. Incomplete results show that Republicans gained 60 seats in the House and now have a 53 seat majority.

In Florida, the most surprising House win was in District 22 where Tea Party-backed Alan West (R) won over incumbent Ron Klein (D) with 54% of the vote. Most of the rest of the state with a large LGBT communities was as pretty much expected. In District 18, Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R) was returned to her seat with 69% of the vote. Despite her party affiliation, Ros-Lehtinen has been a supporter of gay rights and was endorsed, once again, by the SAVE-Dade PAC. LGBT-endorsed Ted Deutch (D) won with 63%, and District 20’s Debby Wasserman Schultz won with 60% and Alcee Hastings (D) won, in what seemed like an almost non-contested race with 79%. In what was a particularly nasty race, David Rivera (R) won over Joe Garcia with 52% in District 25.

Equality Florida, the state’s largest LGBT rights organization, endorsed four candidates in the state’s forty Senatorial races. Kelly Skidmore (District 25-D) lost to Ellyn Bogdanoff with 38%, Kevin Rader (District 27-D) lost with 46% and Les Gerson (District 38-D) lost with 32%. However, in District 35, Gwen Margolis (D) won against Corey Poitier (R) with 78%.

Candidates for State Representative in key LGBT areas of Florida and endorsed by Equality Florida were trounced. In the Tampa Bay area, District 51’s Janet Long lost with 44% of the vote, Stacy Frank (District 57-D) lost with 44%, Russ Patterson (District 60-D) also lost with 44% and Keith Fitzgerald (District 69-D) barely lost with 49%. If there was some sunshine on the west coast, it was District 53 where Rick Kriseman (D) won with 58%.

Equality Florida backed State Representative candidates in southeast Florida fared somewhat better. Included were Mack Bernard (District 84-D) with 78%, Joseph Abruzzo (District 87-D) won with 53%, Jeff Clemens (District 89-D) won with 61%, Irving Slosberg (District 90-D) won with 63%, Jim Waldman (District 95-D) won with 61%, Ari Porth (District 96-D) won with 71%, Franklin Sands (District 98-D) won with 63%, Evan Jenne (District 100-D) garnered 67%, Luis Garcia (District 107-D) won with 51% and Ron Saunders (District 120-D) won with 55%.

Gwyndolen Clark-Reed, District 92, Democrat, covering much of Broward County ran unopposed.

In key County Commission races, Broward County’s first openly gay mayor, Ken Keechl (District 4) lost his reelection bid to the county commission with 45% but LGBT-backed Suzanne Gunzburger won reelection with 72% in District 6.

Both Hillsborough County Commission candidates backed by Equality Florida lost: John Dingfelder (District 1) with 46% and Linda Saul-Sena (District 5) with 43%.

Miami-Dade County Commission District 8 election is very close and may end up in a re-count. Equality Florida backed Eugene Flinn and his opponent Lynda Bell split the vote almost 50-50. Write in ballots, that are still to be counted, could make a difference in the final result.

Palm Beach County Commission candidates endorsed by Palm Beach County Human Rights Council were Sherry Lee (District 2) who lost, Jess Santamaria (District 6) who won and Priscilla Taylor (District 7) who also won.

Equality Florida-backed, Susan Latvala (R) won her bid for Pinellas County Commission District 4 with 56%. Key amendments to the Florida Constitution won allow for military personnel an additional tax credit on their property taxes and new redistricting rules for both state and national districts. It was a good day for the incumbents in Wilton Manors. Mayor Gary Resnick was returned to office with almost 66% of the vote. Also returning to city hall are commissioners Ted Galatis and Scott Newton. Former City Commissioner Julie Carson, who sat on the dais for a few months in 2009 replacing Resnick who became mayor. She was temporarily appointed to fill Resnick’s seat in the City Commission and lost that seat to Scott Newton in a special election.

By JOHN BRISENDINE

The freaks and monsters will be out full force this weekend — and I’m not just talking about the ghouls for Halloween, either. The politicos running for public office, and their minions, will be making the last-minute push to get their message out to garner votes for candidates and favored amendments.

First of all, what the hell is Amendment 4 and why should I vote against it? A check of the website Florida2010.org is a confusing mish-mash that still doesn’t clearly tell me what Amendment 4 is all about. However, I sure as hell see the signs in many front yards proclaiming “NO TO 4!” I know a lot of us in Central Florida would like to say “NO TO to I-4” but I’m still confused about Amendment 4.

As for the candidates on the ballots, I hear so much negativity coming from all sides about the local and statewide candidates that I don’t want to vote for any of them. The Tea Party is the new movement at the forefront touting candidates who are against the Obama administration.

Do these goofballs, in their George Washington powdered wigs, even realize how silly they look strutting around and clamoring for a change? A change for what? I mean, c’mon already, let’s just keep tea bagging in the bedroom where it belongs!

As for some of the candidates, I have to go with my gut. Sure, I’ll vote Alex Sink for governor. She reminds me of a lesbian with her short haircut and uber-butch first name. Furthermore, I like lesbians. Alex Sink does not identify as a lesbian at all, and she’s definitely not, but when I see her on TV, she reminds me of one and that’s why she has my vote.

Her opponent in the gubernatorial race is Rick Scott and I don’t like him at all. He looks like those lizards that my cat Izzy chases around on my back patio. However, I do like his mom who has been in his campaign commercials. She seems like a nice old lady who probably knows how to cook up a great Thanksgiving dinner. Maybe I will just vote for her.

In the U.S. Senate race, we have hottie Marco Rubio running on the Republican ticket, after usurping Charlie Crist in the primary earlier this year. Of course, good ol’ Charlie, with his metrosexual spray tan, isn’t one to sit idly by on the sidelines when there’s a race to run. Instead of gracefully bowing out, he is all of a sudden an alleged independent. If Charlie were so damned independent, he wouldn’t have been a Republican for so many years. How is it that when his own party shunned him, that he finally got a spine? He’s a bigger flip-flopper than a fry cook at McDonald’s. At least, the flip-flopper at Mickey D’s produces a tasty product. Charlie has just spent too much time under the heat lamp to be considered fresh anymore.

Kendrick Meek is the Democratic nominee and he’s to be the man I’m leading toward. He seems like a guy I’d like to share a “Bay Breeze” with at happy hour.

I’m just tired of Republicans, Democrats and Tea Partiers. I’m just gonna say to hell with it all and start my own party and call it the Pajama Party.

On a final note, check out all the great costumes in the many Halloween costume contests this weekend at most of the clubs here in the Orlando area. The grandest contest of all takes place at The Parliament House this weekend. On Saturday night, October 30th, the grand prize winner of that contest takes away $1,000 CASH! On Sunday, the 31st, the winner take away $3,000 cold, hard, throbbing CASH! For more info, log onto www.parliamenthouse.com.

Well, with this update on the monsters on the ballot or in the nightclubs, I hope you get out to vote no matter what. Twisted Tom will be here next week and I’ll see you again on November 11th. Bye for now.

In 1977, Anita Bryant had a dream that gays and lesbians would never be able to adopt children in Florida. Thirty-three years later, ultra-conservative Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum put the final dagger in Bryant’s dream — in what had actually turned out to be a nightmare for the entire GLBT community.

On October 22, McCollum announced he will not appeal a September 22 state appellate court ruling that overturned Florida’s ban on adoption by gay men or lesbians.

“The constitutionality of the Florida law banning adoption by homosexuals is a divisive matter of great public interest,” McCollum said in a statement. “As such, the final determination should rest with the Florida Supreme Court, not a lower appellate court. But after reviewing the merits of independently seeking Supreme Court review, following the decision of our client the Department of Children and Families not to appeal the decision of the Third District Court of Appeal, it is clear that this is not the right case to take to the Supreme Court for its determination. No doubt someday a more suitable case will give the Supreme Court the opportunity to uphold the constitutionality of this law.”

Frank Martin Gill, had filed the case against The Florida Department of Children and Families (DCF) because he wanted to adopt two young boys that he and his partner had been fostering for nearly six years.

“We are relieved that this process has finally come to an end, and that we can focus on being a family,” Gill said in a statement. Both DCF and Florida Governor Charlie Crist had said that they would not appeal the ruling.

The Keen News Service reported that McCollum told the Florida Baptist Witness in August, “I don’t believe in gay adoption” — but Orlando Sentinel columnist Mike Thomas reported that, in May, when he had asked McCollum if he favored taking the boys from Gill, McCollum mentioned a gay campaign aide who had adopted children and said, “Let’s leave it at that.”

While the law has essentially been overturned by the courts, McCollum’s statement leaves open the possibility that the state or DCF would continue to challenge adoptions by gays and lesbians and eventually take the fight all the way to Florida’s Supreme Court unless the ban is written out of the state’s constitution by legislators, which at this point does not look like it’s going to happen.

Another court challenge that is on the horizon is that of lesbian Vanessa Alenier who is trying to adopt 21-month-old Ethan, a biological relative who has been with her since he was nine days old.

Alenier’s case was recently heard by Third District Court and DCF has not decided yet whether they will continue to fight Alenier’s adoption of Ethan or stop the case altogether.

“The breadth of social science and child welfare research – spanning 25 years – proves irrefutably that gays and lesbians make every bit as much of a good parent as straight parents,” said American Civil Liberties Union Spokesman Brandon Hensler. The ACLU is supporting Alenier in her case.

Currently there are about 1,000 children available for adoption in the state of Florida and another 19,000 who are in temporary foster care and could also be adopted, according to DCF.

Florida’s two candidates running for the open Governor position has different views concerning the gay adoption ruling. Republican Rick Scott said, “Children should be raised in a home with a married man and a woman. Pressed to expand on whether the state should forbid gays from having children through other methods, such as surrogate parenting or in vitro fertilization, Scott repeated his previous statement. Democrat Alex Sink said: “As a mom who cares about what is in the best interest of Florida’s children, I support the end of this ban.”