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A friend asked: "how best to respond to homophobic or other bigoted remarks at Thanksgiving without losing your dignity or throwing a wet blanket on the whole family affair. What do you think?

By a 6-1 vote, Orange County has banned sexual orientation- and gender identity-based discrimination in employment, housing and public accommodations.

From the St. Petersburg Times TALLAHASSEE — Palace intrigue surrounds Rick Scott as he prepares to take control of the governor's office.

The 2010 election in Florida has been deeply disappointing with one tremendous exception. The defeat of a number of our champions means a tougher road ahead, but we have a long history of facing these challenges and we've made progress despite the tough odds. One Very Big Victory - Fair Districts

I sent this note to Dana Young via email last night after she attempted to defend the last minute a

Election Day is Tuesday, November 2nd. Do you know where the candidates stand? Click here to get our pro-equality voter guide or text VOTE to 24453 to get our guide on your mobile phone.

NOTE: Some good news is leaking out about the Pentagon's survey results and, contrary to what some military leaders have said, it appears the majority of service members are fair-minded Americans and believe gay soldiers should be able to serve openly and honestly. We'll need to hit our Seantors hard in early December to get DADT off the books.

Encouraging news from the US Department Of Education in response to the national outrage around anti-LGBT bullying. Another stark reminder of how important it is to VOTE on Tuesday. The difference between administrations who support LGBT people and those who don't couldn't be more important. From Bloomberg News: "Schools that fail to address the bullying of gay students may lose U.S. funds for not enforcing gender-discrimination laws, the federal Department of Education said.

With the ban gone, many people are wondering:

Please join us for Our City, Our Time, Our Turn! a forum on updating the Jacksonville Human Rights Ordinance

On Saturday, Oct. 23, Gainesville held it's annual Pride parade and festival at Bo Diddley Plaza in downtown.

DATE: Tonight, Sunday, October 24th 2010TIME: 6:00pm to ...Approx 8:00pmLOCATION: 1900 North 15th Street. Tampa, Florida, 33605Map: http://bit.ly/clRZ7t(Across the street from MC Film Festival and Street Car Charlies)

Equality Florida supporters are out in force at tonight's grand opening of The BAY - the chic new Miami mega club.

Just in case you don't get our email, I wanted to be sure you'd seen this! With the anti-gay adoption ban declared unconstitutional, we are going to have to defend the victory in Tallhassee. Help us ensure our allies are there to fight with us. Mallory --Mallory WellsPublic Policy Director ---------- Forwarded message ----------From: Joe Saunders, Equality FloridaDate: Thursday, Oct 21, 2010 at 6:15 PMSubject: Nervous About the Election? The Courts Have Declared Florida's Anti-Gay Adoption Ban Unconstitutional

The following is a statement by Nadine Smith, Executive Director of Equality Florida , regarding today’s announcement by Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum that he will NOT appeal the Third District Court’s ruling that found Florida’s ban on adoption by gay and lesbian prospective parents “unconstitutional.” “Since Sept 22nd, Florida’s ban on gay people adopting has been over. We are pleased to learn that Attorney General Bill McCollum has decided not to squander more taxpayer dollars and muddy the waters on a matter the courts have decided unanimously.