** UPDATE:  The Special meeting has been changed to June 6, 2012 at 3:00pm in the Commission Chambers. ** Whew!  For those of us who believe strongly in equality and inclusion, this has certainly been a whirlwind couple of weeks!  First, the Vice President and the Secretary of Education both affirmed their belief in the legality of same sex marriages on May 6. Then, North Carolinians voted to prohibit those marriages (again—going for the suspenders-and-belt approach) on May 8. At a breakfast meeting I had the day of the North Carolina vote [...]

This week Step Out Sarasota‘s Vice-President Carroll Hunter asked me to join him on “The Black Almanac” on ABC-7 to discuss gay marriage with Dr. Ed James, the host of the show for over 40 years. Dr. James contacted Carroll because of his history with Florida Legal, Inc. (a fraternal organization of Gay & Lesbian Law Enforcement Professionals) and his trailblazing experience as an advocate and activist for the GLBTQ community. Recently, when the City of Venice unanimously voted to add non-discrimination clauses for LGBT people into their city charter, Carroll was there representing Step Out Sarasota and our community. [...]