Though same-sex marriage was recently legalized in Florida, Jacksonville LGBT advocates say they’re not finished fighting for equal rights. They’re seeking to update local laws.
As same-sex marriage couples secure marriage licenses, they’re also getting an array of new rights. But at the same time, Jacksonville lacks an ordinance protecting gay people from discrimination.
Attorney and co-founder of the Jacksonville Coalition for Equality Jimmy Midyette says people who exercise their constitutional right to marry can still face problems at work or home.
Midyette said, “If they’re one of the first wave of couples doing so that are being featured in the press, and they for example, rent an apartment, their landlord would be completely within his or her right to not renew that lease just on the basis of that couple being gay."
But Midyette says he thinks the same-sex marriage ruling will help foster a cultural shift that will push local officials to update Jacksonville’s Human Rights Ordinance.
Photo Credit: "San Francisco LGBT Pride 2007" by Eric Wagner is licensed under CC BY 2.0
