More than 25 years ago, Anita Bryant led her infamous campaign against Miami-Dade County's gay rights amendments. Now an amendment to that same ordinance granting basic rights to transgender individuals is in danger of being derailed even after it passed on its first reading with an 11-1 vote.
The proposed amendment was filed back in May by Bruno Barreiro and Audrey Edmonson, and would have extended basic protections against discrimination in the areas of public accommodations, housing and employment to transgendered individuals. Broward, Palm Beach and Monroe counties already have trans-inclusive human rights ordinances, leaving Miami-Dade as the only county in South Florida without such protections.
The bill passed on its first reading 11-1 with only Commissioner Lynda Bell voting against it. The bill was then sent to the Health and Social Services Committee, of which Bell is a member, where it was suddenly pulled by its sponsors over fears that it couldn't get enough votes on the committee level.
Meanwhile, the professional troll organization the Christian Family Coalition, the self-appointed heirs to Bryant, have been lobbying hard against the bill with ridiculous flyers. It seems they're lobbying might have gotten to some of the members of the committee, though the group's recent track record shows their endorsement is mostly worthless.
"The commission has decided to withdraw the item in order to allow more time to educate the county commission on this important issue," Maria Barth, deputy director of SAVE Dade, told the Miami Herald.
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