St. Johns County commissioner, board sued over Pride Month proclamation rejection Suit also targets County Commission as a whole

County Commission Chairman JEREMIAH RAY BLOCKER got our County sued for civil rights violations.  

He and the County don't have a leg to stand on, which is why today's St. Augustine Record editorial recommends he put the Gay Pride resolution on the agenda and allow Commissioners and citizens to be heard.   

Jerry Thomas Cameron, current Flagler County Administrator and former St. Johns County Administrator would always remind new St. Johns County Commissioners that just because they got elected does not mean that they gained twenty (20) IQ points. 

Not unlike the character of "Hoss" on TV's Bonanza, played by Dan Blocker, JEREMIAH RAY BLOCKER seems just a bit too big for his britches on this occasion, like an entitled son and heir of a fictional Nevada land baron.

A sixth generation Florida resident, Republican Ponte Vedra representative JEREMIAH BLOCKER is acting more like a stiff-necked, judgmental, cocky arrogant occupying Army's imperial viceroy (reminiscent of General Douglas MacArthur in Japan, issuing unctuous unAmerican ukases like banning Japanese women from breast-feeding on. busses).

We're Americans, and we don't cotton to dictators, even when they might wear an Army uniform with epaulets on it.

On this day in 1944, my dad stood up to oppression in the 82nd Airborne.  A young 90-day wonder officer busted an F. Company, 505th P.I.R. non-com to buck private.  Dad and eight other non -coms spoke to a captain and announced they were "turning in our stripes."  They did not refuse to fight, but wanted their protest on record.  The non-com in quo was immediately restored to his rank.  Dad knew that the Inspector General would proceed to investigate.  The facts would have shown the 90-day wonder officer was acting arbitrarily and capriciously.  (On the day before D-Day the non-com in quo had an attack diarrhea, ran to the latrine and double-timed it to catch up with the group, which was under orders to stay together. 

My father taught me -- as JFK's father taught him -- that you have to stand up to people with power, or they walk all over you.

My dad's 82nd Airborne Divn. 505th P.I.R., F. Company unit liberated the first French town before dawn on June 6, 1944, the beginning of the end of Nazi occupation and oppression in Europe.  And they did so after preserving and protecting the rights of that non-com.

Here endeth the lesson for Chairman Blocker, a Major in the Florida National Guard Judge Advocate General Corps, a decorated combat veteran who needs to honor his oaths, and stop fearing KKK.

From St. Augustine Record;

St. Johns County commissioner, board sued over Pride Month proclamation rejection

Suit also targets County Commission as a whole

Sheldon Gardner

St. Augustine Record

 

   

June 4, 2021

A St. Augustine resident is suing St. Johns County Commission Chair Jeremiah Blocker and the board as a whole over the rejection of a proposed proclamation in honor of Pride Month. 

The suit, filed in U.S. District Court in Jacksonville on behalf of Sara Bloomberg, alleges violations of freedom of speech and other violations of U.S. and state constitutions. 

County spokesman Michael Ryan said he and Blocker couldn't comment on Friday because of the lawsuit. 

About Pride Month:What are the origins of Pride Month? And who should we thank for the LGBTQ celebration?

A closer look:LGBTQ definitions every good ally should know

Bloomberg moved to St. Augustine in 2016 from New York City and, along with their wife, helped launch the nonprofit House of Prism after noticing a lack of support for LGBTQIA+ people in St. Johns County. Bloomberg prefers to be identified with they/them pronouns. 

Gay pride rainbow flags fly from the Bridge of Lions as seen in this file photo from June 2005.

The nonprofit's mission is "the commitment to the advocacy, education and services for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, asexual+ in the St. Augustine and St. Johns area" ― collectively referred to as LGBTQIA+. 

June is Pride Month, which celebrates members of the LGBTQIA+ community and recognizes their struggles. Bloomberg and others sought to have Pride Month proclamations adopted by the cities of St. Augustine and St. Augustine Beach and St. Johns County government. 

St. Augustine and St. Augustine Beach officials adopted the proclamations, but Blocker did not put the item on the Commission's agenda. 

A National Park Service ranger places rainbow flags, representing LBGTQ pride, along fencing around Christopher Park, Friday, June 14, 2019, in New York's Greenwich Village. June is Pride Month, celebrated each year to mark the 1969 Stonewall rebellion, a series of violent confrontations between the gay community and police, that occurred near the park at a gay bar called the Stonewall Inn.

"It is heartbreaking," Bloomberg said.

Bloomberg said they sent the proclamation to Blocker and did not hear back, but they received a phone call from someone at the county saying that Blocker declined to put the proclamation on a Commission agenda. 

The caller said the Commission doesn't support proclamations that are too far left or too far right politically, Bloomberg said. The only commissioner Bloomberg heard back from was Henry Dean, whom they planned to meet with to discuss the issue. 

Anyone can request a proclamation, but St. Johns County reserves the right to deny any proclamation, according to the county's website. The Commission chair makes the decision on whether to approve proclamation requests.

Dean said he doesn't plan to bring up the topic at a Commission meeting because of procedure.

"I'm all for all human rights, but I also respect the bylaws that we have and I respect our chairman greatly, and so it's his call," Dean said. 

Other county commissioners did not immediately respond to a request for comment. 

In an email to commissioners and other officials, which Bloomberg shared with The Record, Bloomberg wrote: "LGBTQIA+ humans exist everywhere; we have existed since the beginning of time, and we come in all races and religions. We come from all cultures, all socio-economic standings; we are American citizens and immigrants.

"We are republicans and democrats, and some have served their country in the military. Some of us are neurotypical, and some are not. Some of us identify with the sex we were assigned at birth, and some do not. Regardless of our rich intersections, we deserve to be acknowledged and supported. "

Bloomberg added, "Statistically, YOU have LGBTQIA+ family members; they might not be publicly out for fear of bullying, abandonment or fear that you will not love them anymore. You cannot imagine the sadness, the disappointment, the overwhelming feelings of grief that we experience when we are not recognized."

Federal lawsuit over St. Johns County Pride Month proclamation rejection  

Attorney Rook Ringer of St. Augustine is representing Bloomberg in the lawsuit, which alleges, among other things:

• Violations of the U.S. Constitution for "refusing to even publicly hear or put to a vote the Plaintiff’s request for the LGBTQ Pride Proclamation, and by specifically describing the reasoning behind this decision was content-based (i.e., “controversial” and “left-leaning”)."
• That Bloomberg was treated "differently from all other similarly situated individuals or organizations because the Plaintiff is a member of the LGBTQ Community and because Chairman Blocker disagrees with the message and content of a pro-LGBTQ proclamation."
• That open meeting laws weren't followed "by privately refusing to hear or allow a public vote on the LGBTQ Pride Proclamation, by communicating this refusal privately and without any public record or transcript," and by privately refusing to allow the public to be heard on the matter. 
• The lawsuit says that Dean said he planned to bring up the Pride proclamation to Blocker and county administration. 

Dean said he has not discussed the matter privately with Blocker or any other commissioner, which would violate Sunshine Law. Dean said he was referring to potentially bringing the matter up at a Commission meeting. 

Bloomberg is seeking a public hearing on the proclamation and acknowledgement of constitutional and procedural violations. 

St. Augustine commissioner speaks in support of Pride proclamation 

Other local governments have considered the issue. Mount Dora adopted a Pride Month proclamation, and the city of Okeechobee Council voted against recognizing Pride Month, according to clickorlando.com and wflx.com.

St. Augustine Commissioner Nancy Sikes-Kline said she sponsored the city's Pride proclamation, which the city adopted in May, because she wants St. Augustine to be a welcoming place for everyone. 

"This is a question that we ask ourselves: What kind of city do we want to be? Do we want everyone to be welcome and comfortable here, and how do we accomplish that?" Sikes-Kline said, adding that "one of the beautiful things about this country" is its diversity.

"We want to move beyond just tolerating our differences. We want to celebrate them, so in that we can become better people, more supportive of one another. And that is really what this is about," she said.

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