“Judge Cindy Lederman has been removed from her 15-year post as top administrative judge over Miami-Dade’s juvenile courts. The new chief justice over Miami courts says he wanted new perspectives and leadership. Lederman ruled in November 2008 that Florida’s gay adoption ban was unconstitutional, a case now on appeal. She also oversaw numerous juvenile justice programs in Miami and publicly scolded state officials in 2002 following the disappearance of 5-year-old foster child Rilya Wilson. The new top judge in Miami’s juvenile courts is Orlando Prescott. Lederman will remain a juvenile court judge and says she respects the decision.”
DeAnimator
Big surprise. A woman who stands up for herself AND civil rights? No no no. We can’t have that. Put her in charge of kids and shit. She has a vag, that’s where she belongs. Obviously.
michael
People, hear me now. This is the south, the south is as backward as it was 150 years ago. There will never be gay rights in the south unless they are forced to by the federal government and then civil war might be what it takes because those ignorant bunch of losers will probably try to succeed from the union. Our gay brothers and sisters are lost there and that is why we get can all the gay rights we want state by state but until we reach the federal level is mostly impotent.
planktonshampoo
@michael:
You’re the north to people who live south of you.
Basically what I’m saying is that it doesn’t matter where you live, it only matters if you’re alive….
get it?
No?
ok goodnight
alex
Do a little research, Queerty. The change in administrative judges here in Miami has nothing to do with gay rights. The new director wants to merge the family courts and juvenile courts. Lederman is against this reorganization of the court system. She wasn’t on board with the major initiative of her new boss and therefore was taken out of her adminstrative role.
Believe it or not, the world doesn’t revolve around the LGBT community. Yet, Queerty only views the world with that lens. Not everything is about us.
michael
@alex: No, its revolved around rich, white, straight men, and what they want. That can change and we are changing it. I trust that you are one of these men because otherwise your a typical example of what happens to the minds of an oppressed minority, they gladly walk to the back of the bus. Don’t lay that selfish, centered guilt trip on gay people to try to keep them oppressed. Maybe you truly buy into that bullshit yourself if you happen to be gay. I hope you get some help because going through life voluntarily taking sitting on the back of the bus is not virtue, its a sin against yourself.
galefan2004
I don’t respect this decision. This is nothing more than pandering to the conservatives in Florida. I wish all the senior assholes and bitches that went down to Florida to die simply would already and that would leave Florida to the people that actually have roots there. If you remove the retirees from Florida, it is quite possibly one of the most gay friendly states in the country.
God, I get sick of waiting for the older generation of homophobic ass hats to just die off already. America needs a genocide program for anyone over 70.
Michael vdB
Hmmm…I agree with Michael and not just because I like the name. There is always more background to the story than what is posted.
And Alex, quit playing the victim. Just because someone brings in some more thoughts about a story does not mean that they are helping to oppress anyone.
galefan2004
@michael: Are you even from the south? Its funny because some of the most accepting people when it comes to me being gay are from the south. Hell, when I went to Charleston in 2001, a trip to the mall saw gay guys holding hands, gay guys pushing strollers, and gay guys cruising other gay guys. The one club that we went to had a long history of being a gay accepting straight club (way before that was the fad in the rest of the country). It was actually kind of funny because the majority of the people I met moved to Charleston from Ohio. The big cities in the south are very gay friendly. The problem with the south is that the old people haven’t died yet and even more move there every single day in order to retire.
SFNative
@michael:
That’s why I support the National Equality March wholeheartedly.
http://www.equalityacrossamerica.com/march
galefan2004
@Michael vdB: I think you and the other Michael are misinterpreting what Alex is saying. He is simply saying that there is much more to this story than that this woman took a stand for gay rights. He is saying that the way she chooses to do her job is the real reason she is being demoted. I don’t know enough to argue rather or not the family courts should be merged with the juvenile courts, but it does seem like that is how it is ran in many places in the rest of the country in order to save overhead.
Michael vdB
Opps…sorry, I meant to say I was agreeing with Alex and not Michael.
Sorry, got the names mixed up. Eary morning posts…need coffee. lol.
alex
@michael:
“rich, white, straight men”, huh?
Lederman’s replacement is black. And trust me, I’m far from a victim. I’m just sick and tired of people (and especially people with a platform like Queerty) complaining that every action in this world is LGBT-related. It’s not. This post implies that Lederman was demoted due to her ruling on gay adoption. It wasn’t.
I’m in the process of getting my Florida County Court Mediation certification. That means I spend time in both Broward and Miami-Dade courts listening to mediations. While I haven’t met Lederman, I can state that she has quite a reputation as being stuck in her ways. Her new boss wants change; she doesn’t. Connecting her demotion to a single pro-LGBT ruling is wrong and it shows how this website wants to create controversy where there is none. Should I have explained my “insider” knowledge in my initial post? Perhaps.
Additionally, no one that knows me would ever call me a victim. Countless people on sites like this think their posts count as activism. Not me. When Amendment 2 passed in Florida, I created a website that identified those individuals that financially supported the campaign to pass it.
galefan2004
@alex: I wouldn’t go so far as to think that my commenting here represents activism. Getting involved in the elections every campaign season is what constitutes activism to me. I do that regularly.
Charlie
@alex: Yup. just like you folks. You could be told your house was on fire, while you watch it burn, if it interfered with your sick agenda, you’d deny it was so. Is there any truth at ALL that you guys will believe? Is there anything you will accept as fact even when it happens right in front of your face, besides when it falls directly in line with your homosexual agenda? I don’t think so!