This brief self-introduction was a part of a group presentation on March 7, 2026.
Our
team is new and “who’s involved” is expanding, so instead of a roster with
resumes, let’s get personal. Why have I joined the LGBTQ+ team?
I grew up in Miami, Florida in the
1970s and at first I was afraid, I was petrified, as Gloria Gaynor sang in “I
Will Survive.”
When
I was 18, the Miami Metro government passed an ordinance protecting gay people.
These were basic protections—no one could be fired just for being gay, no one
could be evicted. At that point about forty other cities in the U.S. had passed
similar protections.
The backlash was immediate and loud.
Led by Anita Bryant, an entertainer who starred in TV ads for Florida orange
juice, a campaign formed to repeal the ordinance. The Save Our Children
campaign, as it was called, spouted distortions and repeated stereotypes and
made absurd claims, but since many people shared those biases, it gained
traction.
I was the gay son of a conservative
church pastor. I watched as anti-gay violence spiked in the Coconut Grove
district, the hub of Miami gay life. I listened as people in my church and
school bashed all things gay. I was afraid. Even though I was deeply in the
closet, I crawled further in and piled up furniture by the door. What would
have happened to me if I had been outed? Probably I would have been thrown out
of the house and onto the street, or forced into hostile therapy.
My church placed a petition for the
repeal election in the lobby and my father, the pastor, encouraged everyone to
sign. Of course, that included me. After a Sunday service I got in line but I
had picked a busy moment and the lobby was full of people and conversations and
activity. I stepped up to the table and pretended to sign and walked away. No
one noticed. I was lucky.
A few months later, voters
repealed the protection ordinance by almost seventy percent. I watched on TV as
gay people gathered in Coconut Grove to cry together and shout defiance. And I
have never felt so alone. All I could do at that moment was boycott orange
juice.
That’s when I promised myself that
if I could, some day, I would help protect LGBTQ+ people. I would not allow
others to go through what I had. I’d have their backs.
Now, having survived Anita Bryant and
coming out and other challenges, I’m trying to fulfill that promise once again.
We’re confronted with two hateful ballot measures in Washington and it’s time for
action. To my transgender siblings, I’ve got your back. Our team has your back. No Hate in Washington
State*really has your back. And we need to win—for the people whose lives will
be enhanced or protected, whose dignity and worth will be affirmed.
Once I was afraid, I was petrified.
But not anymore, especially with such good company. And I drink orange juice
now, sometimes in mimosas.
Our seven team members, both allies
and LGBTQ+ people, invite you to join us.
* No Hate in Washington State is an organization formed to oppose two ballot propositions which target transgender people. Those are almost certain to be on the November ballot.
