May 27, 2011 was a historic, momentous day for the Central Florida LGBT community. Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer sent a letter to Orange County Mayor Teresa Jacobs suggesting that they work together to implement a domestic partner registry, which would confer a number of very important rights and benefits to local LGBT citizens, including the right to make healthcare decisions and funeral arrangements for same-sex partners. Dyer’s letter congratulated Jacobs for recently implementing domestic partner benefits for Orange County employees, and then noted he  and she both had been approached by members of the Orlando Anti-Discrimination Ordinance Committee (OADO) about implementing a registry. Dyer stated to Jacobs that he supports the registry concept and that Orlando will proceed independently if necessary, but “would greatly appreciate the opportunity to collaborate with you in creating a domestic partner registration system” for the entire county. Yay, Buddy!  

Orlando has always taken the lead in advancing gay rights initiatives (anti-discrimination provisions, domestic partner benefits), with Orange County subsequently being prodded to play catch up. And inevitably when Orange County catches up, the result has been separate and often conflicting regulations that apply different rules and standards in the city and county, thus wasting duplicative government resources and overburdening businesses. This time, with two mayors in place who have shown vocal support for advancing LGBT equality, this could really be something special—a Democratic city mayor and a Republican county mayor working together cooperatively to solve some very critical life and death issues that confront LGBT citizens daily, in a consistent and united effort.

We should all take notice of this moment and thank Buddy Dyer for his bold leadership, and step up and do everything within our power to help make sure that it comes to fruition. We cannot leave this to the handful of committed activists who have worked long and hard to reach this point—we need the entire community to take ownership of this opportunity and fight for it like we have never fought before. This is important will bring unprecedented new rights to all of us that will allow us to better protect ourselves and our families.

I am proud to be a member of OADO, which has been advocating for local legislative advances in LGBT rights since it spearheaded the effort to pass a gay rights anti-discrimination ordinance in Orlando in 2002. OADO was also instrumental in the passage of domestic partner benefits for Orlando employees in 2008 and LGBT inclusion in Orange County’s antidiscrimination housing ordinance in 2006. Most recently, OADO worked closely with Mayor Jacobs and her predecessor Rich Crotty to pass an LGBT-inclusive Human Rights Ordinance for Orange County citizens and domestic partner benefits for Orange County employees. Yes  it is now illegal for your employer to discriminate against you because you are LGBT.

Now we have our eye on a much bigger prize—a countywide domestic partner registry. Mayor Dyer fully supports the registry and is ready to get it done. Mayor Jacobs has expressed support for the concept but has not yet committed to advancing it as a legislative priority. Orange County Commissioner Jennifer Thompson and Orlando Commissioner Patty Sheehan have publicly expressed support and others have not yet stated a position. OADO is communicating with all of the City and County leaders to urge their support of the registry, but we need your help to persuade them to do so and get it done ASAP. Real people are suffering every day without the rights and benefits a registry would provide.

There are 13 states that offer either civil unions or domestic partnerships on a statewide basis, plus another five states (and D.C.) that offer same-sex marriage. That means that there are 32 states that do not offer any form of statewide recognition to gay relationships. Not surprisingly, Florida is one of those 32 backward states. Fortunately, several local municipalities in Florida have acted independently to implement DP registries, as have dozens of municipalities across the country. Currently the following cities and counties in Florida have DP registries: Broward County, Miami-Dade County, Palm Beach County, Gainesville, Key West, Miami Beach, and West Palm Beach. These registries allow gay couples to register their relationships with their local governmental authority, and thereby receive various rights and benefits, including the following:

• The authority as a spouse to make health care decisions for a DP (or child of a DP) that is incapacitated and unable to make such decisions for themselves.
• The ability to participate in the education of a dependent of a DP as a parent to participate in the education of their child.
• The right to make decisions with regard to funeral/burial decisions as a surviving spouse.
• In any situation providing for mandatory or permissible notification of family members, including in emergency situations, such notification would include registered DPs.
• Becoming designated as a preneed guardian for their DP and to serve in such capacity.
• Health care facilities (hospitals, nursing homes, etc) and correctional facilities would be required to allow registered DPs (and their children) the same visitation rights as a spouse.

These are critical rights, desperately needed by our community. We all know a friend or colleague or family member whose life has been devastated by the denied access to their life partner in the hospital, denied the right to make funeral arrangements when their partner dies, denied the basic courtesy of even being notified that their partner has been injured or has died.

This is an historic opportunity. Please get involved. Spread the word, and call and write your mayors and county and city commissioners and tell them that you need and deserve these basic rights. It’s time to get out there and get registered.