News Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:Brian Winfield, Communications Director, (727) 488-7799
Joe Saunders, Central Florida Coordinator, (407) 497-4986
“I Had A Cousin Who Died of AIDS; He was Queer as a Three-dollar Bill. He Had that Homosexual Lifestyle and Deserved What He Got.”
- Rep. D. Alan Hays, (R- Lake County) in his office to AIDS Advocates Lobbying in Tallahassee Wednesday June 13, 2007
“His comments are outrageous and require that all people of conscious raise their voices,” said Nadine Smith, Executive Director of Equality Florida. “Rep. Hays has a history of making homophobic remarks to constituents and then denying those statements. The only thing worse than Hay’s comments would be the silence of those who know better but allow his words to go unchallenged.”
A group of AIDS advocates were meeting with Rep. Hays to lobby for support of AIDS funding by the state. Hays sit on several key state & health committees.
In March of this year, Rep. Hays was at the center of another controversy when he made bigoted comments to students during Equality Florida’s Safe Schools Lobby Day. In that incident, Hays met with a group of students and parents including Jessica Osborn , who attends the University of Central Florida and lives in Hays’ district. “After telling him [Hays] my story he proceeded to say he was repulsed by homosexuals, and we needed extensive psychological treatment," said Osborn.
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Equality Florida is Florida’s only statewide human rights organization dedicated to the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people. Through education and advocacy, the organization is committed to building a state of equal rights for all Floridians, inclusive of all sexual orientations and gender identities.
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