In Fort Lauderdale our Mayor (it's a non-partisan position, but he's always actively supported Republicans from Bush on down to recently defeated Clay Shaw) has draw a lot of heat for trying to justify spending $250,000 on an automated toilet at the beach because it will keep unhappy (he refuses to use the word gay) men from having illicit sex in the restrooms. This despite a police department statement that this is not a problem in Fort Lauderdale. Facts be damned, he thinks it's a problem, so it must be.

Well today comes the news report that indeed, in Merritt Island, up the coast a bit from Fort Lauderdale, that an undercover police officer arrested a man for offering to perform oral sex inside a park restrooom....wait for it.....wait for it...the man was.....

Republican State Representative (District 32) Bob Allen, married, father of one.

Who knew? It's actually married Republican men that we need protection from at the restrooms at our beaches.

I would have to say that the Fort Lauderdale mayor definitely owes the gay and lesbian community an apology!

Sometimes you just have to laugh at the sense of humor the universe has.

Florida is facing a possible constitutional amendment battle on the November 08 ballot, trying to bring the same-sex marriage fight to Florida.

And who has been the financial backing for this so far? Surprise! Of the $439,000 raised so far, $300,000 has come from the Florida Republican Party.

But there is good news. First, they are still short on the number of signatures needed. Second, they don't have any money and haven't raised much in the past year.

And third, and most importantly, a group has organized in the past three months to fight this effort and in their quarterly filing just released, announced they raised $1,014,604.44 in the first 3 months. The group, Florida Red & Blue is a bi-partisan effort to keep this out of the Florida constitution.

There's a long way to go in this fight. But a line has been drawn in the sand. If the Republican Party wants to push this in Florida, it's going to be a very expensive battle for them.

Now this is a creative campaign! Equality Florida has announced their "Flush Naugle" campaign, in response to the Mayor's recent bigoted remarks. In an attempt to justify spending $250,000 for robotic toilets at the beach he described a plauge of "homosexual activity" in public restrooms. This despite the police department's statement that "there's no evidence, no reports or arrents made for any men having sex in any restrooms." He went on to say that he uses the word "homosexual" because "most of them aren't gay, they're unhappy." Here's a link to the original story here which I initially diaried here.

So Equality Florida is suggesting everyone send the Mayor a roll of toilet paper to help wipe clean his dirty mind!

Fort Lauderdale, one of the beacons of progressive light in Florida, has long suffered from the leadership of it's Mayor, Jim Naugle. While "technically" a Democrat (you can't get elected dog catcher as a Republican in most of Broward County), he's been a stauch supporter of George Bush and Mel Martinez. He particularly seems to have a hair across his butt for the gay and lesbian community, which is a significant force in this area.

His recent tirade? Gay men having sex in toilets at the beach. His evidence? NONE. Even the police department admits there is no problem. Story here.

Conservatives who have been vocal in their support of amnesty for Scooter Libby have lost all credibility in the immigration debate.

Their true colors have come through once again. If you're white and rich, you shouldn't be held responsible for your illegal acts. If you're poor and from south of the border you shouldn't receive any consideration at all.

Perhaps we should force Scooter Libby to return to Europe and re-apply for permission to come back into this country.

Just when I think there may be hope for my state of Florida, up pops state representatives like D. Allan Hays, R-Umatilla (yes there is such a place in Florida, but, like me, you'll have to Google map it!).

While being lobbied in his office this week by activists seeking to change Medicare rules for AIDS patients, he was heard to say

Two nurses and a regional manager from Positive Healthcare, an affiliate of the international nonprofit AIDS Healthcare Foundation, say Hays leaned across his desk during the Wednesday meeting and said his cousin was "as queer as a three-dollar bill" and "had that homosexual lifestyle and deserved what he got."

While his comments are reprehensible enough and calls for his censure seem appropriate
(article here) what I want to discuss below the fold is what this hit home to me - we must challenge in EVERY election.

I believe in trying to hold my representatives in Congress responsible for their actions. This means, however, having a good grasp of the votes they are making and the implications of those votes.

I've reached the point of confusion on the many and various votes on funding the Iraq war in recent weeks. "McGovern amendment", "rules to the bill", "final bill" and so forth. And in trying to research actual roll call votes as they related to specific measures, I only get more confused and less able to communicate accurately with my representatives.

Take a moment and vote in this West Florida TV online poll here..

Susan Stanton, the transgengender former city manager of Largo, FL, who lost her job as Steve Stanton when he announced he was changing gender, is a finalist for the city manager position in Sarasota.

Unfortunately, transgender is one of the few remaining minorities with absolutely no protection against discrimination and the results of this poll so far show the narrow mindedness of the locals.

Nadine Smith, Executive Director of Equality Florida has had all charges of resisting arrest with violence dropped that were filed during the public meeting in February in Largo Florida where the city manager was fired after announcing he is trangender.

Nadine was "arrested" after being asked by one of the meeting participants for her handout that simply said "don't discriminate." She was roughed up by the police, dragged from the meeting room and thrown to the ground by four Largo police officers.

Witnesses at the scene and a photograph showing the abusive treatment of Nadine left state prosecutors little choice.

"The state attorney, having taken testimony under oath at a state attorney investigation, concludes that the facts and circumstances revealed do not warrant prosecution at this time, " prosecutors said in a new court pleading.

It was a sad day all around for civil liberties in Florida. Steve Stanton is now a finalist for the city manager position in Sarasota, as a woman under her name, Susan.

We can only hope the people of Sarasota have a little more class and dignity than was displayed by Largo.

This story, being reported on the Miami NBC affiliate is chilling:

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- A gay couple is asking for an investigation after they claim they heard threatening comments announced over the intercom system at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport.

The couple of six years said they were in the baggage claim area of Terminal 3 at 1 a.m. Tuesday when the announcement was made.

"My partner said, 'Did you hear that?' And I said, 'I kind of think I did,'" said Anthony Niedwiecki. "Then about two minutes later we heard it again. 'A man who lies with a man as if he were lying with a woman shall be subject to death.'"

"It was almost so threatening that I was frightened," said Waymon Hudson, Niedwiecki's partner.

I make no apologies about this diary. It's an homage to my Mom and Dad because they got me to thinking this week about how special their generation is and what we are going to lose as they pass on.

What brought about this reflection was the serious flooding that happened in the Northeast and in particular, in New Hampshire starting on Monday. I'm sitting down in southeast Florida, where we're experiencing water rationing, feeling helpless about a situation going on 1,500 miles away.

My Mom is 81 and my Dad is 78 and you can't help but worry when the water is rising (for the second time in less than a year.)

NOTE: Diary amended to increase the amount from $300,000 to $600,000 of "deficient" amounts....

You have to give Republicans credit...they have a way of turning a phrase.

In response to an FEC audit into the financing of his 2004 election to the US Senate, a spokesperson for Sen. Mel Martinez (FL) characterized it as "lax reporting".

Martinez spent $12.3 million to win the election by less than 100,000 votes (49.4% to 48.3%). You have to wonder what the results would have looked like if he had been forced to follow the rules.

USA Today reported on the continued decline in the percentage of taxpapers who check the $3 box to support the public campaign-financing system. From a high of 27.5% in 1976 it has dropped to 9.2% in 2004. Only 7.3% of the 2006 returns to date have checked the box.

This isn't surprising given the resignation we feel towards the ineffectiveness of our $3. It's also borne out by the liklihood that all presidential candidates this year will opt-out of the system.

I realized that I probably stopped checking the box 7 or 8 years ago.

Just wondering what everyone else does with this?

I'm the first to admit I no longer watch the evening national news broadcasts the way I did even 10 years ago. For a long time, I relied upon those 30 minute broadcasts after dinner to give me a glimpse into what was going on in the nation and the world. Not any more. Tonite was a classic example of what I find wrong with the news media.

I swear they all suffer from attention deficit disorder (and my apologies to those individuals who do suffer from this disease for lumping them together with the national news media, but I know of no other way to explain it.)

The staggering first quarter numbers being reported by all of the presidential candidates, both Democratic and Republican, have me once again looking more locally at how I can best affect political change.

I am concerned that for too long, we have been blinded by the shiny objects being flashed by presidential candidates, giving our money at that level because it makes us feel good.

Are we building our movement from the top down, ignoring the development of the foundation at the local and state level because we're looking for a quick and easy return?

In a totally unscientific straw poll taken at the Florida GLBT Democratic Caucus booth at gay pride festivals in Fort Lauderdale (FTL Mar 10 & 11) and West Palm Beach (WPB Mar 24 & 25), participants were asked to indicate their preference for Democratic nominee for president.

The results are presented solely for your interest, amusement and/or conversation. This follows up my diary of two weeks ago with the initial results.

Alaskans are being asked on April 3 to force the legislature to place a constitutional marriage amendment on the November 2008 ballot. (See my earlier diary here).

The reason for their indignation is a ruling by the Alaska Supreme Court in 2005 that the state was required to offer benefits to same-sex partners of state employees. Their solution, as is usually the case with the religious right, is to enshrine bigoty in their state constitution.

Florida is a tough place for Democrats. We have been in the minority since the mid 90's. By losing control of the legislature for the 2002 reapportionment, we were pushed even lower. The Republican took gerrymandering to a new level as an art form and have turned a state with almost equal voter registrations into a 2 to 1 Republican advantage almost everywhere.

We finally reversed this trend last November by making a net gain of 7 seats in the Florida house. We are outnumbered 79 to 41, but those 7 seats gained were huge. Because the margin is now less than 2 to 1, Republicans can no longer ram whatever they want through the house.

So every seat in Florida is critical...which brings us to a special election in House District 49.