Tag Archives: human rights ordinance

Rabbi Jesse Olitzky, Jacksonville Jewish Center

Video December 16, 2013 We Are Straight Allies 1 Comment

Rabbi Olitzky serves as Rabbi and is part of the clergy team at the Jacksonville Jewish Center in Jacksonville, FL., He received rabbinic ordination from the Jewish Theological Seminary. In addition to ordination, he received an MA in Jewish Education from JTS’ William Davidson School of Education. Prior to relocating in Jacksonville, Rabbi Olitzky served communities in Kingston, New York and Parkchester, New York. His mission as a rabbi is lower barrier of access to Jewish ethics and values, promoting social justice in order to fulfill the Divine vision of peace, equality, and harmony. Read more about Rabbi Olitzky here: http://wp.me/p3PnKk-bs

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Co-Workers, Communities

Ally Profile: Steve Halverson

Image December 9, 2013 We Are Straight Allies Leave a comment

Steve Halverson is President and Chief Executive Officer of The Haskell Company, one of the nation’s largest integrated design-build organizations, with operations throughout the United States and Latin America and headquarters in Jacksonville, Florida. During his 12-year tenure as CEO, Haskell has expanded its operations internationally in Latin America and more recently into Asia.

Steve received his Bachelor of Arts degree from St. John’s University, his Juris Doctorate degree from American University in Washington, D.C. and has completed executive business education at Dartmouth University and Wharton. He is co-author of two books, as well as numerous articles in professional publications. He is admitted to the bar in Minnesota and Virginia (inactive status).

Steve is active in both professional and civic organizations. He serves as Chairman of the Construction Industry Roundtable and was past Chairman of the Design Build Institute of America and the National Center for Construction Education and Research. He is also a corporate director of CSX Corporation (NYSE:CSX) and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Florida (Florida Blue).

In terms of civic activities, Steve is Chairman of the Jacksonville Civic Council, Immediate Past Chairman of the Florida Council of 100, and Past Chairman of the Florida Chamber of Commerce. He is also Chairman of the Teach for America Jacksonville Advisory Board, past chairman of the Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra, past Vice-Chairman of Regis University and the University of North Florida, and a life trustee of the Council for Educational Change in Miami. He is a member of the Jacksonville University Public Affairs Institute Advisory Board and was 2002 campaign chair for the United Way of Northeast Florida. Steve is a 2007 recipient of the Prime Osborn Distinguished Business Leader Award and in 2008 was elected by the Florida Council on Economic Education to the First Coast Business Hall of Fame. He is a recipient of the UNF Presidential Medallion (2011) the Governor’s Business Leader of the Year Award (2012) and the OneJax Humanitarian Award (2013).

Steve believes that employees want to work for a company that is both fun and exciting, but also safe and fair. Work should be a “place that they feel comfortable” and a “place that is tolerant”. Steve says, “if Jacksonville is not that, it won’t attract the best talent….We’ve lost people who wanted to come to Jacksonville…because they didn’t feel it was a safe, tolerant place to live.” For these reasons, Steve supports the passage of a comprehensive Human Rights Ordinance in the city of Jacksonville and is a Straight Ally.

Steve lives with his wife Diane in Jacksonville. They have two children, John and Anne.

Press

PRESS: Folio Weekly, United We Stand

November 7, 2013 We Are Straight Allies Leave a comment

We Are Straight Allies is deeply appreciative for the thoughtful article posted this morning by the Folio Weekly, Northeast Florida’s Premier News & Opinion Magazine. “We are inextricably bound”

Here is an excerpt: “Nancy Hogshead-Makar, Olympic gold medalist and civil rights attorney, came out.

So did Haskell Company CEO Steve Halverson and Florida Blue CEO Patrick Geraghty. And Rachel Vitti, wife of Duval County Schools Superintendent Nikolai Vitti, came out just a few weeks ago.

No, they haven’t re-evaluated their sexual identities. Each has come out as a straight ally for LGBT equality as part of an awareness campaign created by Chevara Orrin, Dan Bagan and Laura Riggs.

The idea is to change minds by introducing people who might share common ground with others in the community.”

To read the full contents of the article, please visit their site directly: United We Stand

Families

Ally Profile: Luis “Louie” Lopez

Image October 28, 2013 We Are Straight Allies 6 Comments

My name is Louie Lopez. I’m originally from Los Angeles and was a Jockey in my younger years. Because of constant starvation, I decided to walk away from my Horse Racing career and joined the Navy, which landed me in Jacksonville. In 1990, I married for the first time and from that marriage came two wonderful sons; John David and Curren. I longed for a daughter, but was blessed with my boys.

John David, being the oldest, gave me visions of grandchildren and granddaughters. At a very early age John was not interested in toy cars or any thing of that sort. His mother and I recognized during that period that John’s interest were different. At the age of four, when John made his Christmas list, he specifically asked for an “Easy Bake” oven. Of course, Santa granted his wish. In the meantime, his younger sibling, Curren, was involved in skateboarding, surfing and all the benefits that living at the beach offers.

By the time John was twelve, we were convinced he might be gay and were always conscientious to let John know we were accepting, if that was the case. John would never come out and say he was gay to me, and it baffled me since I had seen pictures of him in women’s clothing and makeup. To my lack of understanding, John did finally come out. But he came out to me as a Transgendered young adult and preferred we call her Nina. In Nina’s (John) eyes, she was never gay, but someone who has felt, and viewed herself, as a girl at a very early age!

I personally have seen some of the rejection, prejudice and taunts my daughter has experienced. As a parent, I can be hurt by someone, but if it happens to my children it slices like a dagger every time. The irony is, I always wanted a daughter and a son, and in the end it looks like that is who I have been given.

My second wife, Suzanne, and I will continue to love and support our adult children, and support Nina in the journey she is on.

My hope is for people will take the time to understand and not judge because everything is not always what it seems to be.

Co-Workers, Communities

Ally Profile: Nancy Hogshead-Makar

Image October 3, 2013 We Are Straight Allies Leave a comment

Nancy Hogshead-Makar is Jacksonville’s own 3-time Olympic swimming champion from the 1984 Games. She is a life-long advocate for access and equality in athletics, internationally recognized legal expert on sports issues, scholar, and author. She has a commitment to equality, using sports as a vehicle for social change. As one of the foremost exponents for gender equity, she advocates for access and equality in sports participation, sexual harassment, sexual abuse and assault, employment, pregnancy, and legal enforcement under Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 and within the youth sports and Olympic movement.

Hogshead-Makar has testified in Congress numerous times on the topic of gender equity in athletics, written numerous scholarly and lay articles, and has been a frequent guest on national news programs on the topic, including 60 Minutes, Fox News, CNN, ESPN, NPR, MSNBC and network morning news programming. She serves as an expert witness in Title IX cases and has written amicus briefs representing athletic organizations in precedent-setting litigation. Her scholarship includes her book, co-authored with Andrew Zimbalist, Equal Play; Title IX and Social Change, Pregnant and Parenting Student-Athletes; Resources and Model Policies, published by the NCAA, and her book chapter, “The Ethics of Title IX and Gender Equity for Coaches” appears in The Ethics of Coaching Sports; Moral, Social and Legal Issues, edited by Robert L. Simon. Since 2003 she has been the Co-Chair of American Bar Association Committee on the Rights of Women. Sports Illustrated Magazine listed her as one of the most influential people in the history of Title IX.

Hogshead-Makar is currently the Senior Director of Advocacy for the Women’s Sports Foundation, a 29-year affiliation that started as a college intern. She has received significant awards recognizing her commitment to athletics, including receipt of an honorary doctorate from Springfield College, induction into the Academic All-America Hall of Fame and the International Scholar-Athlete Hall of Fame, the Hall of Fame for the National Association for Sports and Physical Education, and receipt of the National Association of Collegiate Women Athletic Administrators’ “Honor Award”. In 2011 she was presented with the National Organization for Women’s “Courage Award,” and was inducted into the National Consortium for Academics and Sports Hall of Fame. In 2012 she was awarded the “Title IX Advocate Award” from the Alliance of Women Coaches.

Nancy is the recipient of the 2014 International Olympic Committee’s Woman of the Year for the Americas. She has been recognized as one of the foremost authorities on gender equity in sports and one of the most influential people in the history of Title IX – the groundbreaking legislation which has given women the same opportunity as men to compete in US collegiate sports.

Why is Nancy a straight ally and supporter of the HRO ordinance?

I am an ally and supporter of the HRO ordinance because human dignity and respect for who you love is a birthright.

At every level, sports participation is a powerful educational experience, and is the underlying reason I work in this field. Homophobia, in particular, is used to diminish all women’s athletic feats, as they accomplish under a cloud of sexual suspicion. Women’s heart-soaring accomplishments can’t upset traditional notions of femininity too much as they become stronger, highly skilled and more ambitious. Therefore, questions about boyfriends and future plans of marriage are practically obligatory, and not just in the media.

So while most LGBTQ athletes suffer, my lesbian teammates suffered uniquely. Straight women may be afraid of supporting their lesbian teammates for fear they might be seen as lesbians themselves. Women athletes are all running from the same shame and discrimination, rather than affirming our life’s pursuits and our selves.

So it’s no wonder so many of my lesbian teammates didn’t share their sexuality with me until long after we’d finished competing. That saddens me – that they didn’t see me as safe. I love my family with my whole being, and I bring that enthusiasm with me to practically every conversation. I can’t imagine not being able to share the people I love with the world, for fear of discrimination. How painful. I want all of my lesbian and gay friends’ humanity. That includes their ability to share joyfully their life’s loves with as much passion and freedom as I share about mine without fear of loss.

What if the stigma of same-sex relationships didn’t exist? The suspicion of being a lesbian could no longer be used to marginalize women in sports, and we’d all be healthier and more productive.

The Jacksonville Human Rights Ordinance will be a solid step towards making this dream a reality.