> In Miami-Dade, battle for gay rights takes another turn
>
> By VANESSA BAUZ=C1 [Ft. Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel]
> Web-posted: 11:40 p.m. Feb. 8, 2000
>
> MIAMI -- Even as they celebrated the narrow approval in 1998 of
> a Miami-Dade County amendment banning discrimination against
> gays and lesbians, many gay advocates knew they would have to
> fight to keep it.
>
> It took 15 months, but on Tuesday that day arrived when county
> commissioners gave the green light to a signature-collecting
> campaign that could repeal the amendment.
>
> Take Back Miami-Dade, a political action committee made up of
> the Christian Coalition and several other religious and
> conservative groups, now has 60 days to collect about 33,400
> signatures, or 4 percent of the county's registered voters. If the
> signatures are collected and verified, the issue will be put up for a
> vote in September.
>
> The impending battle over gay rights is bound to raise feelings
> of d=E9j=E0 vu for anyone involved in amending, and later repealing, a
> similar human rights ordinance in 1977.
>
> Then, Miami-Dade County was at the forefront of gay rights
> when it amended its human rights ordinance to prohibit
> discrimination against homosexuals. That amendment, however,
> was swiftly repealed after former beauty queen Anita Bryant led a
> campaign against it.
>
> The county is now poised for a similar battle.
>
> The current law makes it illegal to discriminate against gays and
> lesbians in housing, employment and public accommodations,
> such as group use of a recreation field. It does not apply to
> religious or nonprofit groups, a compromise struck to give the
> ordinance a greater chance of passage.
>
> Previously, the county's human-rights ordinance prohibited
> discrimination based on race, gender, age and religion.
>
> Gay advocates said they feel confident voters will not repeal the
> amendment as they did in 1977.
>
> "We were not organized then because we believed, naively so,
> in people's fundamental rights. It didn't occur to us as
> un-American or unpopular," said Miami lawyer Brenda Shapiro, who
> was active in passing the first amendment. "I don't think its naive
> in 2000 to believe most of us really do understand the issue now."
>
> Those who want the amendment repealed say they are simply
> engaging in a democratic process by bringing the issue up for a
> vote.
>
> Take Back Miami spokesman Eladio Jose Armesto said the
> county's residents have a right to go to the ballot box, "instead of
> it [the amendment] being imposed on the people by a one-vote
> margin." County commissioners approved the amendment by a
> 7-6 vote.
>
> He also argued that gays do not require special protection from
> discrimination. "Homosexuals have not been sent to the back of
> the bus, banned from voting or made to drink from separate water
> fountains," Armesto said.
>
> Still others said their opposition to the amendment was a moral
> one.
>
> "This thing is not about discrimination. It's about an acceptance
> of a lifestyle that is ungodly," said Nathaniel Wilcox, a minister at
> Miami Holiness Church in Liberty City.
>
> "When I was born I didn't have any choice but to be this,"
> Wilcox said, pointing to his black skin. "The gay lifestyle is a
> behavior that they want to force on our community."
>
> Anthony Verdugo, chairman of Miami-Dade's Christian Coalition
> and a spokesman for Take Back Miami-Dade, would not discuss
> his group's strategy for collecting the signatures.
>
> But members of both groups are likely to seek support among
> the county's diverse black, Hispanic and Anglo populations.
>
> SAVE Dade, a pro-gay rights group, said it has already begun to
> identify and reach out to voters.
>
> In the past few years, Broward and Palm Beach counties have
> adopted similar gay-rights laws. So has the city of Miami Beach.
> Eleven states have ordinances to prohibit discrimination against
> gays and lesbians. Florida is not among them.
>
> Some said the outcome of the ballot initiative could determine
> the zeal of those eager to repeal ordinances around the county.
>
> "I think we're watching this unfold in Dade County because of
> the historical significance of the battle down there and because of
> Anita Bryant," said Jane Morrison, regional director of the Lambda
> Legal Defense Fund, a national gay and lesbian group.
>
> Vanessa Bauz=E1 can be reached at vbauza at sun-sentinel or
> 954-356-4977.