Equality Florida to Bestow its Highest Honor on Miami Beach First Assistant City Attorney Rob Rosenwald for his Landmark Three Decade Legal Advocacy for LGBT Families and Kids

(Miami Beach, FL) Nov 30, 2020 -

Equality Florida, the state’s largest and oldest statewide lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (“LGBT”) advocacy organization, has announced that it will honor Miami Beach First Assistant City Attorney Rob Rosenwald for his three decades of landmark legal advocacy for LGBT families and kids in a digital ceremony to be held via Zoom on December 6, 2020 from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m.

The Voice for Equality Award, the group’s highest honor to any individual, will be presented to Rosenwald at the event. It is awarded to leaders who exemplify advocacy and leadership in service to LGBTQ Floridians. Previous recent Voice for Equality honorees include Miami-Dade County Mayor-Elect Daniella Levine Cava, Miami Beach Mayor Dan Gelber and Chasten Buttigieg, the husband of U.S. Presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg.

“Today, Rob stands on the shoulders of giants for his work defending the rights of LGBT Floridians and we couldn’t be happier to give him our highest honor today,” Equality Florida Executive Director Nadine Smith shared.

Rosenwald has worked in the Miami Beach City Attorney’s Office since November 2010, litigating for the City such historic lawsuits as those establishing the right of gay and lesbian Floridians to legally marry, banning harmful conversion therapy on minors, and defending local governments’ authority to enact local human rights ordinances that, at the time, were the only legal protections for LGBT Floridians.

“Rob has been an invaluable ally to Equality Florida and our movement for years,” Equality Florida’s statewide Political Director Joe Saunders noted. “It is no exaggeration to say that Rob has litigated virtually every Florida case establishing rights for gay, lesbian, and transgender people, including the landmark 2010 decision overturning Florida’s infamous ban on adoption of children by gay people.”

Rosenwald also represented Miami Beach in the Florida Supreme Court in its 2019 effort to enact a local minimum wage higher than the approximately eight dollars required under thenFlorida law. We are committed to providing excellent public service and safety to all who live, work and play in our vibrant, tropical, historic community.

“In Miami Beach, we don’t just check the box on LGBT rights, we create the boxes that others later just have to check, Miami Beach Mayor Dan Gelber said of the award. “It’s gratifying to see another Miami Beach leader honored for that work.”

Before joining the City of Miami Beach, Rosenwald served from 2005-2010 as the founding director of the ACLU of Florida’s LGBT Advocacy Project, where he litigated landmark cases establishing the right of gay people to adopt children and of LGBT students to form a gaystraight alliance in Florida middle schools and high schools.

“Rob is a tireless and skilled advocate for LGBT people and our work together has ensured that Miami Beach remains the best place for gay, lesbian, and transgender people from all around the world to live, work, and play,” Miami Beach City Attorney Raul Aguila added.

The public is invited to attend the award event and is encouraged to wear an ugly holiday sweater to make it fun. Prizes for ugliest sweaters will be awarded. To digitally attend the award ceremony via Zoom on December 6, 2020 from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m., RSVP to Robin@equalityflorida.org. Please click here for Rosenwald’s complete biography.