Love. Joy. Hope. “That’s our superpower,” Equality Florida Co-Founder Stratton Pollitzer said, referring to those principles during his recent Palm Beach Brunch “state of the state” address. Those three words anchored a speech that blended urgency with optimism — and defiance with grace.
“[Florida is] the test kitchen for the worst ideas in Project 2025,” he said. “But we’ve also become the state proving how resistance works.”
Pollitzer detailed how Equality Florida has mobilized more than 25,000 Floridians for over 800 direct actions in the past three years — from school board battles to legislative showdowns. He credited those grassroots efforts for helping defeat every anti-LGBTQ bill introduced in the 2024 session.
The brunch wasn’t just a celebration — it was a show of strength, raising more than $100,000 in support of Equality Florida’s mission.
Pollitzer reminded supporters that rainbow crosswalks and Pride events aren’t just symbolic — they’re acts of defiance in a time when visibility itself is being legislated against.
“Rainbow crosswalks aren’t decorations,” he said. “They are a symbol that says discrimination once walked freely here on these streets, and we say, never again.”
Pollitzer also praised local leaders, including Delray Beach Vice Mayor Rob Long and the Palm Beach County Human Rights Council, for standing firm against attacks on LGBTQ symbols and protections.
But amid the applause and statistics, Pollitzer’s message circled back to those three guiding words saying the community cannot respond to hate with hate.
“We can never be that,” he said. “The way through this is to fight with love, with joy, with hope — because that’s what makes us strong. That’s our superpower. That’s our genius.”
He closed with a challenge to Florida’s LGBTQ community to keep showing up — not just in protest, but in pride.
“If you never had a rainbow flag, you better get one,” he said. “If you never had a rainbow sticker, you better get one.” To those who might be afraid their car will get keyed, he urged, “get two.”
In a time when rainbow paint is being scraped off streets, Pollitzer reminded the crowd that the movement’s brightest colors can’t be erased — not when love, joy, and hope are the brushstrokes.
