cityXtra Magazine

Equality Florida Launches TransAction Florida to Support Transgender Equality

 

Equality Florida has launched TransAction Florida, a new statewide initiative to increase awareness, educate and promote equality for the transgender community.

The announcement coincides with the introduction of a bill in the state legislature that would add gender identity and sexual orientation to the state’s nondiscrimination law.

Currently, just over 50 percent of the state’s population lives in jurisdictions where discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity is prohibited,
according to Equality Florida.

Miami-Dade county was the latest to enact such protections when its County Commission voted on Dec. 2 to amend its existing Human Rights Ordinance to bar discrimination in housing, public accommodations and employment on the basis of gender identity and gender expression.

“This is an important moment for the transgender community, one that has been too often the silent T in the LGBT movement,” said Gina Duncan, Equality Florida’s Transgender Inclusion Director.

“This project reflects Equality Florida’s longstanding commitment to trans inclusion, and it recognizes the need for visible trans leadership at the forefront of this work,” said Duncan.

Among the group’s goals: educate lawmakers and advance local and statewide equality legislation; provide resources on transgender issues in the workplace and in the classroom; and develop a statewide Transgender Resource Guide.

The program evolved from Equality Florida’s partnership with TransAction Florida, an organization founded in the Tampa Bay area by Michael Keeffe from its predecessor, FORGE.