Short Talk at an Olympia Indivisible Event

 

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            A few months later, voters repealed the protection ordinance by almost seventy percent.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.