[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 100 (Wednesday, June 25, 2014)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1070]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




             RECOGNIZING THE CONTRIBUTIONS OF NADINE SMITH

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. ALAN GRAYSON

                               of florida

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, June 25, 2014

  Mr. GRAYSON. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in honor of Lesbian, Gay, 
Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) Pride Month, to recognize Nadine 
Smith. Smith is the co-founder and CEO of Equality Florida, the state's 
largest organization dedicated to ending discrimination based on sexual 
orientation and gender identity. In 1986, Smith served on the founding 
board of the International Gay and Lesbian Organization. Smith has been 
recognized as a national leader by organizations including the National 
Gay and Lesbian Task Force, Human Rights Campaign, Human Rights Task 
Force of Florida, National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR), and the 
National Black Lesbian and Gay Leadership Forum.
  A former award-winning journalist, Smith has written syndicated 
columns for various gay and mainstream publications. Smith was also an 
award-winning investigative journalist for WUSF, a National Public 
Radio affiliate in Tampa, and later became a reporter for the Tampa 
Tribune.
  In 1993, Smith was part of the historic oval office meeting between 
then incumbent President Bill Clinton and LGBT leaders. Smith was co-
chair of the 1993 March on Washington, coordinating national and 
international media. She also served four terms as co-chair of the 
Federation of Statewide LGBT Advocacy Organizations.
  Smith attended the U.S. Air Force Academy after graduating High 
School in Panama City. She left after the passage of Don't Ask Don't 
Tell in 1993. She earned a Masters in Communication from the University 
of South Florida.
  In 1995, Smith served as campaign manager for Citizens for a Fair 
Tampa, a successful effort to prevent the repeal of the city's human 
rights ordinance, which included sexual orientation. Smith has been an 
outspoken advocate for hate crimes and anti-bullying legislation. In 
2008, Equality Florida's efforts resulted in the passage of a statewide 
anti-bullying law that has spurred school districts across the state to 
include sexual orientation and gender identity in their anti-bullying 
and anti-harassment policies.
  From 2006 to 2009, Smith served on the Board for Fairness for All 
Families, a grassroots effort to protect LGBT families in the face of a 
ballot measure that banned recognition of marriage between same sex 
couples. The measure, which passed with approximately 62 percent of the 
vote, also banned protections that are the ``substantial equivalent of 
marriage''.
  Smith has served as a spokesperson for Equality Florida denouncing 
the ban on adoptions by LGBT individuals. In particular, Smith 
challenged the state for using huge sums of taxpayer dollars to fund a 
discredited anti-gay activist as their star witness for the ban.
  In 2013, Smith was named one of the state's ``Most Powerful and 
Influential Women'' by the Florida Diversity Council. She was also 
given the League of Women Voter's Woman of Distinction Award earlier 
this year. She lives in St. Petersburg with her wife Andrea and son 
Logan.
  I am happy to honor Nadine Smith, during LGBT Pride Month, for her 
tireless efforts on behalf of the LGBT community nationwide and in 
Florida.

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