[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 41 (Monday, March 2, 2020)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E241-E242]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 HONORING THE LIFE AND LEGACY OF WILTON MANORS MAYOR JUSTIN S. FLIPPEN

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. ALCEE L. HASTINGS

                               of florida

                    in the house of representatives

                         Monday, March 2, 2020

  Mr. HASTINGS. Madam Speaker, it is with great sadness that I rise 
today to honor the life and legacy of Wilton Manors Mayor Justin 
Flippen, a dedicated public servant, who loved his community and 
contributed greatly to the people of Broward County, Florida. Justin 
passed away on February 25, 2020 at the age of 41.
  A graduate of Coconut Creek High School, Broward College, and Florida 
Atlantic University (FAU), he became Florida's first openly gay student 
body president at FAU, as well as serving as an intern for United 
States Senator Bob Graham. He earned his Juris Doctor from the 
University of Florida College of Law. Justin was a Wilton Manors City 
Commissioner before being elected Mayor in 2018. Active in the 
community, he became a member of the Wilton Manors-based Dolphin 
Democrats in 1997 and served as president from 2008 to 2009, overseeing 
the growth of the club to over 400 members. Justin was also a member of 
the Florida LGBTA Democratic Caucus.
  When marriage equality became legal in 2015, Justin officiated the 
Valentine's Day marriages of nearly 40 couples at city hall as part of 
a city-sponsored marriage equality mass wedding program entitled, ``We 
Do It!'' He successfully worked to have Wilton Manors become the first 
city in Broward County to raise the Pride Flag outside city hall for 
National LGBT Pride Month, and then less than a year later to have 
Wilton Manors become the first city in the nation to permanently raise 
the Pride Flag as the foundation to a monument and memorial dedicated 
to the contributions of the LGBT community and their allies.
  In November of 2018, the people historically elected Justin as their 
Mayor by one of the largest margins of victory in a contested race. Now 
as ``The People's Mayor,'' but more importantly as a product of our 
city and community, Justin believed in upholding the highest

[[Page E242]]

standards and to serve with his best and nothing less. He believed that 
all elected, and government officials should remember and heed the 
words of Thomas Jefferson who said, ``Governments are the servants, not 
the masters, of the people.''
  Madam Speaker, Mayor Justin S. Flippen's spirit and loving memory 
will always live on. His contributions to our community will be 
remembered for generations to come. I offer my deepest condolences to 
his family, friends, and the entire Broward County community during 
this time of great sadness and loss.

                          ____________________