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If you haven't heard, our deputy director, Stratton Pollitzer, is being presented with the Harvey B. Milk Foundation Honors Medal in recognition of his outstanding leadership through his tireless work on behalf of Florida's lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community. We're excited for him and we hope you can join us on the 28th for this very special occasion.

Check out this great article from Florida Trend about how more and more companies are offering domestic partner benefits to employees. Companies are saying that it gives them a competitive advantage to offer these benefits and that it's the right thing to do. Slightly more than half of the companies on our list offer domestic partner benefits. by Rochelle Broder-Singer

Note: Today is a truly historic day for our nation. Just hours ago, President Obama provided the final certification necessary to end the military's 15-year-old discriminatory policy known as Don't Ask, Don't Tell. Sixty days from today, on September 20th, this policy will be the latest relic tossed on the garbage heap of anti-gay American history.

From the Advocate: DADT Repeal Could Be Certified FridayBy Andrew Harmon Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Adm. Mike Mullen are prepared to recommend repeal certification of “don’t ask, don’t tell” as early as Friday, Defense officials confirmed with The Advocate. "This afternoon, the president will meet with the secretary of Defense and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs to review the certification of the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell," according to a White House spokesman.

Breaking News! Miami-Dade Schools Now Protect All LGBT Students Miami-Dade School District, the fourth largest in the nation, has added gender identity to their harassment and anti-bullying policy. Equality Florida along with and members of our Miami-Dade Safe Schools Coalition have worked for more than a decade to expand these vital protections and Miami remained one of the few large Florida cities without such a policy, until now.

State Representative Luis Garcia from Miami Beach has declared he will run for Congress against incumbent David Rivera. Garcia is a long time champion to the LGBT community. While serving on the Miami Beach city commission he helped pass several pro-LGBT policies and has been a consistent supporter of LGBT legislation in Tallahassee. In his campaign announcement yesterday, Garcia told supporters he was running because, "The middle class has been under attack."

Note: Equality Florida worked with the Florida Independent to highlight the disproportionate impact hate crimes have on Florida's LGBT community. The article also points out that anti-LGBT hate crimes, as a percentage of all hate crimes in Florida, are at there highest level ever. By Marcos Restrepo | 07.20.11 | 4:29 pm

The US Senate Judiciary Committee is currently hearing the Respect for Marriage Act. The Respect for Marriage Act would repeal the discriminatory Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA). The hearing is underway, and you can watch it live here. Yesterday, the White House Press Secretary announced President Barack Obama supports the Respect for Marriage Act.

Check out this article from The Washington Post. By Dana Milbank, Published: July 18The remarkable thing about what happened on the Senate floor Monday night was that it was utterly unremarkable.

Right now, Florida is 'ground zero' for women's rights. This year our Florida state government passed five laws that restrict women's access to safe and affordable health care.

Yesterday, the Florida legislature held it's public hearing on redistricting in Gainesville. And like with so many other issues, Gainesville showed up to have their voices heard.

Miami Shores city council has voted unanimously to offer domestic partnership benefits to it's employees. Miami Shores is now the 6th municipality in Miami-Dade county that offers these benefits. Miami, Miami Beach, North Miami, South Miami, Palmetto Bay and Miami-Dade County all already offer the benefits. The move comes just months after openly gay Jesse Walters was elected to the council. Equality Florida Action PAC endorsed Jesse in the April election.

A recent poll done by Public Policy Polling shows a majority of Floridians support legal recognition for same-sex couples. Two-thirds of Floridians support some sort of legal recognition for same-sex couples. 33% support marriage equality and 34% say civil unions are their first choice. Only 31% polled said they oppose any legal recognition.

NOTE: Our friends at SLDN just let us know about this important court decision. When EQFL was at the President's LGBT Pride Reception last week, President Obama stated that he expected the certification to happen "within weeks, not months." This court decision may just be the final straw that brings an end to Don't Ask, Don't Tell. From SLDN:

We are winning the battle of public opinion - most Floridians are now on our side. But popular support hasn't translated into statewide victories because the elections are rigged.

Equality Florida Attends President's Reception in Honor of LGBT Pride Month

Three weeks ago, we set an aggressive goal of raising $72,000 for our 2011 Equal-a-thon. Because of your generous support and a huge response in just the last 24 hours, we blew past our goal and raised $81,834!