National GLBT Rights Organizations Condemn Arrest of Nationally Recognized State Leader
The arrest occurred when Charlie Deppish of Tampa approached Smith and asked her for a flier that said only “Don’t Discriminate.” According to witnesses, Sgt. Butch Ward confronted Smith in the lobby and ordered her to take back the flier. When Smith asked why, Ward reportedly forced her into a side room where several officers violently shoved her to the floor and arrested her. She has been charged with resisting arrest with violence, a felony, and disturbing others' assembly, a misdemeanor. Smith has been executive director of Equality Florida, the state’s leading LGBT advocacy organization, since 1997 and is nationally recognized for her leadership.
Both organizations called upon the Pinellas-Pasco State Attorney’s Office to immediately investigate the incident and drop the charges.
“We condemn this outrageous and unprovoked attack on one of our community’s leading advocates,” said Matt Foreman, executive director of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force. “This directly associates the Police Department of Largo with the appalling bigotry expressed by the hundreds attending the poisonous hearing attacking an outstanding public servant, Steve Stanton. We honor Nadine’s courage and dignity through this ordeal.”
“HRC joins the Task Force in condemning these actions by Largo police.Arresting a community leader for simply handing out a flier is disgraceful,” said Joe Solmonese, president of the Human Rights Campaign. “The city’s bigoted action against Steve Stanton was shameful in and of itself; its treatment of a citizen standing in support of Stanton is doubly appalling. We hope actions are taken immediately by city leaders to remedy both intolerable situations.”
The mission of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force is to build the political power of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community from the ground up. We do this by training activists, organizing broad-based campaigns to defeat anti-LGBT referenda and advance pro-LGBT legislation, and by building the organizational capacity of our movement. Our Policy Institute, the movement’s premier think tank, provides research and policy analysis to support the struggle for complete equality and to counter right-wing lies. As part of a broader social justice movement, we work to create a nation that respects the diversity of human expression and identity and creates opportunity for all. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., we also have offices in New York City, Los Angeles, Miami, Minneapolis and Cambridge.
MEDIA CONTACTS:
Task Force: Roberta Sklar, 646.358.1465 (office), 917.704.6358 (cell)
HRC: Luis Vizcaino, 202.216.1547 (office), 310.869.5700 (cell)
