Friends, Families, Allies, and Sisters and Brothers,
Yes we did it, yes we did!

Never in my lifetime did I imagine marriage equality would be the law of the land. Yet here we are!

When the Key West Gay & Lesbian Community Center was founded in 1999, I was just finishing up with over a decade of college and university, and entering into the Army. To get in to the Army, I had to be not-bisexual; it was the era of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell. Yet Key West was out there continuing to lead a charge for equality.

In 2003, the GLCC board led by Susan Kent voted to create a lasting icon to the equality movement in the form of Gibert Baker’s 2-mile long rainbow Pride Flag that ran from Sea-To-Shining-Sea. Thanks in to small part to the unrelenting efforts of Steve Smith, great swaths of that original Pride Flag continue to be displayed and carried throughout the world: in winter of 2010 in Vancouver, a 100-ft section of the Pride Flag made up the ceiling of the first-ever Pride Pavilion at an Olympics Games. Every year, carrying the Flag in Key West’s annual Pridefest Parade continues to be a badge of honor.
Over fifteen years since the founding the GLCC, it is an entirely different world. And it is a beautiful one, indeed!
The GLCC continues to play a role in spreading the word on the benefits to be found in encouraging our famed Key West principles of equality, diversity, and unity. Presently, we globally reinforce the efforts of J.T. Thompson and the ONE HUMAN FAMILY foundation—with volunteering, financial support, and activism. And this year in conjunction with space science research organization Icarus Interstellar and internationally renowned transactivist and Sirius XM-founder Martine Rothblatt, we are co-founding the international Space is for Everybody organization to bring awareness of equality, diversity, and unity to the technology and space industry.
As astronaut-teacher Christa McAuliffe is remembered for having said, “Space is for everybody.” Astronaut and natioanl hero Sally Ride, the first US woman in space, lived, inspired, and died as a person who was lesbian. Yet her widowed partner of 27 years, Tam O’Shaughnessy, has yet to receive Federal death benefit. In bringing the battle for justice forward, we are working to insure tomorrow-minded industries understand the value of having a place for all people—without regard for gender, preference, religion, economic background, or level of physical ability. Literally, the GLCC is investing in bringing Key West’s message of acceptance to the future.
Our job now has become carrying the Pride flag onward while transforming its message of tolerance and acceptance to one of unity. As equals it is time to understand what we all share in common and build on that for a better tomorrow.

GREAT WORK, EVERYONE. The hard part is done but the work has just begun!

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