#Michele Rayner-Goolsby

[dontmeantobepoliticalbut]

A bill that would let people carry concealed firearms without a permit and without training passed out of the House on Friday, putting the bill just a step away from the Governor’s desk. The legislation lets people who are otherwise qualified to purchase and carry a firearm avoid the permitting process to conceal carry their weapon.

Rep. Chuck Brannan, R-Macclenny, said the bill was about removing red tape, and that “Florida will not come between you and your freedom to protect yourself anymore.” The legislation passed 76-32.

Despite intense lobbying, the legislation does not open the door to allow people to openly carry their guns in public — a point of anger among pro-gun advocates who say the bill does not go far enough in protecting Second Amendment rights.

Rep. Mike Beltran, R-Riverview, briefly filed an amendment earlier this week that would have allowed for open carrying in certain kinds of holsters. But he withdrew it the next day. On the House floor, he spoke at length about why he believes open carry would be a good move.

Beltran said in a text that the amendment “was and is good policy but unfortunately this is not the right time or the right vehicle.”

“I’d prefer to pass this legislation and lock in what we can, and then see what we can accomplish later,” Beltran wrote.

House Speaker Paul Renner said he supports open carry, but said there’s concern among his caucus and in the Senate about the issue. He said he and Beltran discussed the amendment and identified some problems that would have made things “worse, not better,” which were flagged by the National Rifle Association.

“There are a lot of things I don’t get as Speaker that I want, and I’m very very happy that this bill moves us forward, expands rights in a way that are material and important,” Renner said.

Luis Valdes, Florida director of Gun Owners of America, said in a statement that the permitless carry bill is a step in the right direction, but said it isn’t “constitutional carry” like Gov. Ron DeSantis promised last year.

“Governor DeSantis promised Floridians that we’d get constitutional carry and the Republican supermajority is failing to bring that,” Valdes said.

Members of pro-gun groups speaking out against the bill found themselves strange bedfellows with gun safety advocates, who argued the removal of an additional background check and the training requirement made the public less safe.

An amendment to require training was one of more than a dozen amendments put forward on the permitless carry bill, nearly all of which were sponsored by Democrats, and nearly all of which failed.

Brannan, the sponsor of the bill, said he thought training was important, and pointed to $1.5 million in the bill allotted for it, but said he did not think it was “the nanny government’s job” to mandate it.

Democrats also argued the bill would increase the risk of profiling, and would acutely impact Black communities.

One of the amendments, from Rep. Anna Eskamani, D-Orlando, would allow people to carry firearms into meetings in the Legislature. Legislative meetings are one place, along with courthouses, polling places, and a handful of other designated areas, where Florida law prohibits people from carrying firearms, concealed or otherwise.

Eskamani said “if the majority party thinks guns make us more safe, we should strike this.” Republicans voted the amendment down.

Another amendment by Eskamani would have created an avenue for people to put themselves on a voluntary do not sell list, which they could remove themselves from later. Eskamani said it was designed to help protect people contemplating suicide.

During the debate, Rep. Michele Rayner-Goolsby, D-St. Petersburg, told legislators that in 2021, she attempted suicide with a gun and later checked herself into a mental health facility.

“At the end of the day I don’t see the harm in this type of amendment if it can save someone’s life like mine,” Rayner-Goolsby said.

The amendment failed.

Alexis Dorman, a 19-year-old volunteer with Students Demand Action, said she expected that the bill would pass because of the Republican supermajority, but said she was surprised by the speed at which it moved. By the first week of Florida’s legislative session, the bill was through all of its committees in the House and Senate.

“The youth in our state today are going to grow up around people who can legally carry a firearm without any proper training, and that’s really scary to think about,” Dorman said.

The permitless carry legislation is also available for a vote on the Senate floor, but hasn’t yet been scheduled.

HOW TO GET HELP

If you or someone you know is contemplating suicide, call or text 988 to reach the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline or chat with someone online at 988lifeline.org.

[robynochs]

“I’m literally trying to exist. The harsh things we’re saying are in defense of our life. The harsh things that they’re saying are to prop up a governor��s political ambition & their desire & quest for power.”

-lesbian #Florida Rep. Michele Rayner-Goolsby

[nappynewz]

When African Americans are killed by police, these lawyers get a phone call

When African Americans are killed by police, these lawyers get a phone call

Clockwise from top left: civil rights attorneys Benjamin Crump, S. Lee Merritt, L. Chris Stewart and Michele Rayner-Goolsby.

(CNN)Civil rights attorney L. Chris Stewart was sitting in church in Atlanta on an April Sunday in 2015 when he received a Facebook message with a news article and a plea from a friend. A police officer had killed her cousin, Walter Scott, and…

[blackqueernotables]

Michele Rayner-Goolsby: first Black openly queer woman to hold any political office in Florida.

[allamericansbitch]

i know all eyes are on the presidential candidates for this election, and rightfully so, but some very wonderful and important things are happening statewide that should be celebrated and highlighted, so here’s a few:

Florida passed Amendment 2, which will raise minimum wage to $15/hour by 2026

South Dakota, Montana, Arizona and New Jersey all passed an amendment that legalized marijuana 

Utah will now be removing gendered language in the Utah Constitution and will replace it with gender-neutral language

California passed Prop 17, which restores voting rights to previously imprisoned citizens

Delaware elected Sarah McBride, the first ever openly trans state senator

Ritchie Torres and Mondaire Jones are the first ever openly gay black members of congress

Cori Bush is the first ever woman of color to win a seat in Congress in Missouri

Mauree Turner became the first non-binary state lawmaker in America and the first Muslim member of the Oklahoma state house

Oregon has become the first state to decriminalize all drugs (small amounts of cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine and other drugs will have lesser punishments, similar to traffic tickets, and no jail time.)

Kim Jackson is the first out LGBTQ+ state senator in Georgia

UPDATED WITH MORE GOOD NEWS:

Shevrin D. Jones is Florida’s first opnely LGBTQ+ state senator

Jabari Brisport became New York’s first gay Black member of the house

Arizona flipped blue for the first time in 24 years

Michele Rayner-Goolsby became the first Black LGBTQ woman in the Florida Legislature

Voters in Colorado overwhelmingly rejected Prop 115, a state ballot measure that would have banned abortions after a fetus reaches 22 weeks gestational age. In rejecting the initiative, Colorado remains one of the most progressive states in the country on reproductive rights

Arizona will now send two Democrats to the Senate for the first time since 1951, thanks to the win of ex-astronaut Captain Mark Kelly.

Democrats have flipped the senate seat in Colorado, with the win of former Gov. John Hickenlooper

Mississippi is removing the confederate flag from their symbology

Marie Newman, who has been titled ‘a leader of the pro-choice movement’, will now represent Illinois' 3rd Congressional District in Congress

Nevada became the first state to protect same-sex marriage in it's constitution

Immigrant rights activist and former public defender José Garza won the race for District Attorney of Travis County, Texas

Michigan passed Proposal 20-2, which requires police to have a search warrant to access a person's electronic data and electronic communications.

EVEN MORE UPDATES:

Washington approved Referendum 90, which requires all school districts to provide age appropriate, comprehensive sex ed at all grade levels

Colorado passed the first paid family/ medical leave program

Mississippi passed an ammendment that legalized medical marijuana

Denver overwhelmingly voted to pass Ballot Measure 2J. which lifts the city's more than 30-year-old ban on pit bulls

New Mexico elected all women of color to it’s House delegation

Vermont elected the state’s first openly transgender legislator, Taylor Small

Ilhan Omar, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Rashida Tlaib, and Ayanna Pressley, all won re-election in the House

Nebraska passed a constitutional amendment to the state constitution that closes the loophole of the U.S. Constitution’s 13th Amendment that allowed slavery as a punishment for crimes

Rhode Island passed a measure to rename the state, officially naming it Rhode Island and not The State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, due to connections to slavery

Oregon passed measure 109, the first state to legalize psilocybin (mushrooms) for mental heath treatments

Hawai’i elected native Hawaiian Kaiali’i “Kai” Kahele, a Democrat, to the House of Representatives. He is one of 6 Native members of the House who will be sworn in in January

Utah passed legislation that removes language from the state constitution that allows the use of slavery and involuntary servitude as criminal punishments (no more prison labor!)

Multnomah county, where most of Portland sits, just voted for tuition-free preschool for everybody ages 4-5 

[cosettepontmercys]

some good things to hold onto in light of all this:

Michele Rayner-Goolsby made history as the first Black queer woman as a state legislator in Florida

Taylor Small makes history as Vermont’s first transgender state legislator

Jabari Brisport makes history as the first LGBTQ+ person of color elected to the New York State Senate

Shevrin Jones makes history as Florida’s first openly LGBTQ+ state senator

Kim Jackson makes history as the first openly LGBTQ+ person elected to the Georgia State Senate

Mauree Turner makes history as the first non-binary state lawmaker in the United States (and the first Muslim in Oklahoma’s state house)

Oregon became the first state to decriminalize small amounts of cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine and other drugs

Stephanie Byers makes history as the first transgender legislator in Kansas

Nevada is the first state in the nation to protect same-sex marriage in its constitution

Torrey Harris and Eddie Mannis make history as Tennesse’s first out LGBTQ+ state legislators

Ritchie Torres and Mondaire Jones make history as the first openly gay Black members of Congress

Colorado voted to reject a proposed ban on abortions after 22 weeks of pregnancy

Colorado voters voted for 12 weeks of paid time off for childhood and family emergencies

New Jersey, Arizona, South Dakota and Montana voted to legalize the use of recreational weed 

Florida passed an amendment to incrementally increase minimum wage from $8.56 in 2020 to $15 in September 2026.

Mississippi legalizes medical cannabis  

Prop 17 was passed in California, so all formerly incarcerated citizens got their right to vote restored

Mississippi voters approved a new state flag with a magnolia flower and red, yellow and blue stripes, replacing the one from 1894 that featured the Confederate battle emblem and was decommissioned by lawmakers in June.

New Mexico is the first state to send all women of color House delegation to Congress 

[bfpnola]

It’s BFP’s first original graphic! Please share, stay safe and spread light. | Compiled by @tayorswift

Click here for over 1,000 free social justice, mental health, and academic resources consistently updated throughout the year. Please share so everyone has equal and equitable access to education and activism!

[ID: the good news

Florida passed Amendment 2, which will raise minimum wage to $15/hour by 2026

South Dakota, Montana, Arizona and New Jersey all passed an amendment that legalized marijuana

Utah will now be removing gendered language in the Utah Constitution and will replace it with gender-neutral language

California passed Prop 17, which restores voting rights to previously imprisoned citizens

Delaware elected Sarah McBride, the first ever openly trans state senator

Ritchie Torres and Mondaire Jones are the first ever openly gay black members of congress

Cori Bush is the first ever woman of color to win a seat in Congress in Missouri

Mauree Turner became the first non-binary state lawmaker in America and the first Muslim member of the Oklahoma state house

Oregon has become the first state to decriminalize all drugs (small amounts of cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine and other drugs will have lesser punishments, similar to traffic tickets, and no jail time.)

Kim Jackson is the first out LGBTQ+ state senator in Georgia

Shevrin D. Jones is Florida’s first openly LGBTQ+ state senator

Jabari Brisport became New York’s first gay Black member of the house

Arizona flipped blue for the first time in 24 years

Michele Rayner-Goolsby became the first Black LGBTQ+ woman in the Florida Legislature

Voters in Colorado overwhelmingly rejected Prop 115, a state ballot measure that would have banned abortions after a fetus reaches 22 weeks gestational age. In rejecting the initiative, Colorado remains one of the most progressive states in the country on reproductive rights

Arizona will now send two Democrats to the Senate for the first time since 1951, thanks to the win of ex-astronaut Captain Mark Kelly.

Democrats have flipped the senate seat in Colorado, with the win of former Gov. John Hickenlooper

Mississippi is removing the confederate flag from their symbology

Marie Newman, who has been titled ‘a leader of the pro-choice movement’, will now represent Illinois’ 3rd Congressional District in Congress

Nevada became the first state to protect same-sex marriage in its constitution

Immigrant rights activist and former public defender José Garza won the race for District Attorney of Travis County, Texas

Michigan passed Proposal 20-2, which requires police to have a search warrant to access a person’s electronic data and electronic communications.

Washington approved Referendum 90, which requires all school districts to provide age appropriate, comprehensive sex ed at all grade levels

Colorado passed the first paid family/ medical leave program

Mississippi passed an amendment that legalized medical marijuana

Denver overwhelmingly voted to pass Ballot Measure 2J. which lifts the city’s more than 30-year-old ban on pit bulls

New Mexico became the first state to elect all women of color to our House delegation

Vermont elected the state’s first openly transgender legislator, Taylor Small

Ilhan Omar, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Rashida Tlaib, and Ayanna Pressley, all won re-election in the House

Nebraska passed a constitutional amendment to the state constitution that closes the loophole of the U.S. Constitution’s 13th Amendment that allowed slavery as a punishment for crimes

Rhode Island passed a measure to rename the state, officially naming it Rhode Island and not The State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, due to connections to slavery

Oregon passed measure 109, the first state to legalize psilocybin (mushrooms) for mental heath treatments

Hawai’i elected native Hawaiian Kaiali’i “Kai” Kahele, a Democrat, to the House of Representatives. He is one of 6 Native members of the House who will be sworn in in January

Utah passed legislation that removes language from the state constitution that allows the use of slavery and involuntary servitude as criminal punishments (no more prison labor!)

I know the election is stressful, so I thought maybe we could use some reminders of the good happening in our country right now! These next few days, weeks, or even months, remember to breathe. Things may not be in the best place right now, but even in our darkest times, there will always be light. It just takes a bit of searching for! Everyone please stay safe and continue to spread light and love throughout the world.

End ID.]

[bedabug]

moments of hope to latch onto:

Michele Rayner-Goolsby won in florida! florida will have its first openly queer black woman for a state legislator

AOC won her reelection

colorado dumped corey gardner! so that's a senate seat the democrats have taken with Hickenlooper

new jersey legalized weed!! both for sale and use

Sarah McBride won a state senate seat in delaware, becoming the first trans state senator in the us

Stephanie Byers is the first openly trans Native American (and person of color) elected to state legislature in the us

Kim Jackson is the first openly LGBTQAI state senator in georgia history

[pdamerica]

Many thanks to the 75+ folks who braved the threatening weather to stand with Sen. Darryl Rouson and Reps. Michele K. Rayner-Goolsby and Ben Diamond as we all demand that the Senate pass the For the People Act, John Lewis voting rights bill, and end the filibuster if need be.

[drbobbimorse]

Election anxiety has me stress crying in bed, so let’s talk about the good things that have happened thus far -- shocking, I know, but some good news is to be had! -- because some amazing people have made history in this election and they deserve to be celebrated: 

Sarah McBride is the first transgender state senator in US history (Delaware)

Stephanie Byers is the first transgender legislator in Kansas

Mauree Turner is the first non-binary state lawmaker in the US (Oklahoma)

Kim Jackson is the first openly LGBTQ+ person elected to the Georgia State Senate

Taylor Small is Vermont’s first transgender state legislator

Shevrin Jones is Florida’s first openly LGBTQ+ state senator

Jabari Brisport is the first LGBTQ+ POC elected to the NY State Senate

Michelle Rayner-Goolsby is the first black queer woman as a state legislator in Florida

Torrey Harris and Eddie Mannis are the first openly out LGBTQ+ state senators in Tennessee

Ritchie Torres and Mondaire Jones are the first openly gay black members of Congress

Susan Eggman is the first openly LGBTQ+ Latinx woman elected to the California Senate

Roger Montoya and Brittney Barreras are the first openly LGBTQ+ member of New Mexico’s House of Representatives

David Ortiz is the first openly bisexual person elected to the Colorado General Assembly

Jessica Benham has become the first openly autistic and openly bisexual/queer person elected to the Pennsylvania legislature

Tiara Mack is the first openly LGBTQ+ black state senator in Rhode Island

Christy Holstege is the first openly bisexual mayor in the US (California)

Jill Rose Quinn is the first openly transgender official elected in Illinois

Todd Gloria is the first openly LGBTQ+ person and the first POC elected mayor of San Diego

Alex Lee is the first openly bisexual state legislator in California

[reckoningofjoy]

326. Florida elects first black queer people to state senate and house of representatives; 11/3/20

“With national results from Tuesday’s election still coming in, Florida has proved a disappointment for Joe Biden’s hopes of claiming a swift win in the Presidential race.

“However, there was good news in the state lower down the ballot, with Shevrin Jones becoming the first out LGBT+ person ever elected to the state senate, claiming victory in his race in Miami-Dade’s safely Democratic 35th district.”

https://www.pinknews.co.uk/2020/11/04/shevrin-jones-michele-rayner-goolsby-florida-black-queer-lawmakers/?fbclid=IwAR2u8zG28cfWxcRndP-0Vd8tvYswqdLCO7z-gR3MznaQSgqTOpAymuzCQrY

[starlightsearches]

Could you tag posts that have the word queer in it? It’s really offensive to me as an lgbt person. My dad uses it as an insult and slur

Hey friend! Thanks for reaching out to me.

I have to be honest, I’m resistant to tag the word “queer” for a couple reasons.

First, I identify as queer. “Coming out” to my self was a very hard process, given my religious upbringing and the homophobia that I’ve been exposed to all my life. I still don’t always feel like I can clearly identify which letters of the LGBTQIA acronym I fall under.

When I was going through a really hard time, trying to find where I fit in with the larger LGBTQ+ community, learning that I could use the word ‘queer’ was very freeing for me. It gave me a kind of understanding about myself that I had been trying to find for a long time. Even as my identity within the LGBTQ+ develops and solidifies, I will continue to use the word queer to identify myself as part of the community.

Second, in the post in question, it’s not used as an insult. It’s used as an identifier for one of Florida’s new state legislators—Michele Rayner-Goolsby—and it’s an identifier that she uses in her Twitter bio. If it had been used as an insult, I would have tagged it for homophobia.

And last, many transphobes on the internet fight against the use of the word ‘queer’ because it creates a community that is too inclusive for them. I definitely am not accusing you of being transphobic, but I would hate to tag my stuff with something like #q slur #queer or whatever and have any of my trans followers worry that my blog might not be a safe space for them. I would also hate for anyone with transphobic beliefs to see my posts tagged this way and believe that I’m on their side.

So that’s where I’m at. If there’s a suggestion that you have for a tag that I could use to help you feel safe and welcome here, I’d be more than happy to do that. Otherwise, I will probably leave posts of that nature untagged unless I’m also including a warning about homophobia, biphobia, or transphobia. Feel free to message me again on or off anon if you’d like me to tag them some other way!

[inkylizard]

The Squad - AOC (NY), Rashida Tlaib (MI), Ayanna Pressley (MA), Ilhan Omar (MN) all re-elected.  Deb Haaland (NM) and Sharice Davids (KS) re-elected.

Veronica Escobar (TX) and Katie Porter (CA) re-elected.  Cori Bush (MO), Jamaal Bowman (NY), Marie Newman (IL), Mondaire Jones (NY), and Ritchie Torres (NY) joining the Squad in the House.  Kim Jackson (KS) and Torrey Harris (TN) elected, each the first openly queer members of their legislative bodies.  Taylor Small, first openly trans woman elected to the Vermont House of Representatives. Sarah McBride, first trans and queer person in the Delaware State Senate. Brianna Titone (CO) re-elected. Stephanie Byer, first trans Native American woman elected to the Kansas State Congress. Mauree Turner, Black Queer Nonbinary Muslim elected to the Oklahoma State Congress.  Kirk White, Pagan and community activist, elected to the Vermont House.  Michele Rayner-Goolsby and Shevrin Jones, first openly queer Black members of the Florida State House and Senate.  Jabari Brisport, first openly queer person of color in the New York State Senate. Little by litte, we win. <3 

[msclaritea]

“In New York...Democratic Reps.-elect Ritchie Torres and Mondaire Jones will become the first openly gay Black men to serve in Congress. They’re set to make their grand debuts in the U.S. House of Representatives in January.

In Florida, Michele Rayner-Goolsby became the first Black queer woman elected to Florida’s House of Representatives.. "