Sarasota
The LGBTQ community is welcome,
Equality Florida says
RYAN WILLIAMS-JENT “If you fi nd yourself in the city of Sarasota—or in other areas including
Bradenton, Venice and many others—you are in a welcoming community,”
Equality Florida Sarasota Development Offi cer Jarred Wilson says.
He would know. Equality Florida
is the state’s largest civil rights
organization dedicated to securing
LGBTQ equality. Through coalition
building, educational outreach,
grassroots organizing and lobbying,
the organization has fought
since 1997 to protect Floridians
from discrimination—including
in Sarasota.
The organization has been involved
in the area for well over a decade.
They began building a base of support
by connecting with local LGBTQ
leaders who were hard at work on
Sarasota’s human right’s ordinance,
which passed in 2003.
It only protected community
members based on sexual orientation
at the time, but it was amended
to include gender identity and
expression in 2014. “Sarasota has
a reputation of being a welcoming
place for the LGBTQ community,”
Wilson says. “That played a huge
part in bolstering its reputation as a
safe place.”
Fellow Sarasota resident Ken
Shelin helped fight for that change.
He’s served on multiple civic and
government boards in the city and
fought for change as an Equality
Florida board member for years. He
remains politically active today.
“There’s such broad and
deep support for these kinds of
protections,” Shelin has shared
with Watermark. “We don’t get
arguments here."
Equality Florida has continued to
bolster its presence in Sarasota by
cultivating support for its statewide
initiatives like the Safe and Healthy
Schools program. It aims to create a
culture of inclusion while countering
the bullying, harassment, social
isolation and bigotry that increase risk
factors for LGBTQ students.
“We worked closely with the
Sarasota County School Board on the
development of guidelines which
address the unique needs of LGBTQ
students in the classroom,” Wilson
says. The program transforms schools
by ensuring that the districts take full
responsibility for meeting the needs
of LGBTQ students.
Activists like Shelin are also
working for the future of LGBTQ
equality in other ways. The Sarasota
City Commission has formed
a committee regarding the 2020
census in which he will represent the
local LGBTQ community to ensure
as complete of a count as possible.
He’s also organized a Diversity
Public Art committee to create
a piece of public art celebrating
Sarasota’s commitment to inclusivity.
“The Sarasota City Commission has
agreed to provide us a highly visible
spot in our downtown Bayfront Park
to place the artwork," he says.
“We have a vibrant arts community
which works through their
programing to bring exhibitions, plays
and other offerings which focus on the
LGBTQ community,” Wilson adds.
He encourages members of the
LGBTQ community in Sarasota to
join Equality Florida in their fight,
to better the state for those living
inside of the city as well as outside
of it. “Get involved and become an
advocate,” he says.
“Sarasota has so much to offer,”
Wilson concludes. “Whether you come
to Sarasota for a vacation, or you
move here because of a professional
relocation or retirement, you can take
advantage of this vibrant community.
You can get involved in its continued
growth and improvement.”
For more information about Equality
Florida, visit EQFL.org. For more
information about Ken Shelin’s equality
eff orts, email KShelin@aol.com.
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