Ronald E. Breaker is a native of Jacksonville’s Eastside. He served 21 years in the United States Army. His journey to becoming a straight ally began by re-evaluating his old thoughts and beliefs. In his statement, he encourages why it’s time for Jacksonville to do the same. Read more from his ally profile here: http://wp.me/p3PnKk-hj
I am a native of Florida and grew up in the years where schools were just beginning to integrate. To me it was normal, natural and “cool.” As a student at Harvard University, I learned about Martin Luther King, jr. and the principles of seeking social justice for people – no matter who they were: people of other races, nationalities, different abilities, WOMEN! and those who were from many different sexual orientations. I learned about the pain people suffer when they are discriminated against. Since then I have been ordained in the United Church of Christ which has an historic record of inclusiveness: we were the first primarily European – American denomination to ordain an African – American pastor, the first to ordain a woman and the first to ordain an openly gay man. I am proud of that history and proud to represent that here in Jacksonville. I am also a husband and a father of 2 boys and a girl and I want them to be proud of their community and its commitment to social justice and equality of opportunity for all people. Every Sunday at our church we say to people, “No matter who you are or where you are on life’s journey you are welcome here!” I want that to be true for Jacksonville too. We can disagree about how we practice our faith and still be for justice and against discrimination. That is the legacy of all faiths. If the business community can stand for justice and what is right, then the faith community should surely not lag behind. That’s why I am a “Straight Ally,” for the Human Rights Ordinance.PRESS: Interview with Melissa Ross, First Coast Connect
Chevara Orrin, co-creater of We Are Straight Allies, sat down with Melissa Ross on First Coast Connect Thursday morning, November 21st, to discuss the campaign and how we hope to further conversations that assist with passage of a comprehensive Human Rights Ordinance in Jacksonville, FL. We are deeply grateful to WJCT-FM for having us on air and we look forward to working together on this crucial initiative to move the city forward!
You can read more about the interview, as well as listen to the excerpt of the interview, here: http://news.wjct.org/post/straight-allies-advocate-lgbt-equality-jax
For the full show, please visit the archived link here: http://ondemand.wjct.org/audio/november-21-2013
Rachel Vitti, Education Advocate
Rachel Vitti is the wife of Dr. Nikolai Vitti, Superintendent of Duval County Schools, mother of four, daughter, sister, sister-in-law, niece, grand-daughter, friend, teacher, education and social justice advocate. In her own words, Rachel describes why we must come out as allies in order to get the Human Rights Ordinance passed in Jacksonville: http://wp.me/p3PnKk-7e
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