Mayor Alvarez Courts Gay Vote
From The Miami Herald
MIAMI-DADE
BY STEVE ROTHAUS
srothaus@MiamiHerald.com
Carlos Alvarez's campaign to change the Miami-Dade charter and become a strong mayor takes him tonight to Unity Coalition, the county's leading Hispanic gay civil-rights group.
But before gay activists support Alvarez in the Jan. 23 referendum for strong mayor, they have a few questions:
• Would Alvarez appoint a county liaison to the gay community?
• Would he defend Miami-Dade's 1998 gay-rights law if opponents sought repeal?
• Does he support providing insurance benefits for partners of gay county employees?
Alvarez said his answers may surprise those who think his politics are ``to the right of Attila the Hun.''
• Yes, he would appoint a gay liaison, as other large cities including New York and Los Angeles have done.
• Yes, he favors keeping the county's gay-rights ordinance. ''I would never support anyone trying to repeal it,'' he said in a Monday meeting with The Miami Herald's editors.
• Yes, he supports domestic-partner insurance benefits, like those offered by Miami Beach, Broward and Palm Beach counties, and Key West.
Alvarez said he ''doesn't have a problem'' with gay civil unions, but he believes marriage should be between a man and a woman.
During Alvarez's successful 2004 campaign for mayor, he told The Miami Herald that he didn't recall being asked to sign a Miami-Dade Christian Family Coalition pledge to oppose gay marriage and domestic partnerships.
The former Miami-Dade public safety director also said at the time that he opposed gay marriage, but did not know enough about domestic partnerships to take a position.
As a result, Miami-Dade's organized gay community strongly supported Alvarez's mayoral opponent, former Miami-Dade Commissioner Jimmy Morales, who had campaigned and voted for the county's gay-rights law.
''There is a perception by people that [Alvarez] hasn't spoken clearly enough about these issues,'' said ''Ron'' Saul Brenesky, vice president of Unity Coalition, which will host the bilingual open meeting with Alvarez. ``He has a wonderful opportunity to tell the world, the leadership, how he feels about these issues.''
After Alvarez speaks about the strong-mayor initiative, the floor will be open.
''It will be a forum for him to answer our concerns,'' Brenesky said. ``There will be two outcomes: He is either a mayor who is concerned about our issues or a mayor who doesn't understand or is uncomfortable with our issues.''
Brenesky believes that the mere fact that Alvarez is campaigning to Unity Coalition means that the mayor is trying to be open-minded.
"I think he does want to discuss it. He agreed that it should be in our venue, where we can get as many of the leaders and activists together. It makes him look, in my opinion, as an individual who is reaching out.''
