Political Quotes

“In honor of LGBTQ+ Pride Month, I would like to recognize Joel Junior Morales. Joel Junior Morales--pronouns he, him, his, el,--is a proud queer Puerto Rican. He is currently the operations director for the LGBT+ Center Orlando, spearheading efforts to affirm and empower the LGBTQ+ community. Morales served as a victim service navigator during the aftermath of the Pulse nightclub shooting on June 12, 2016. He assisted more than 900 individuals and 255 families, alongside 50 other government, community, and business organizations at the Family Assistance Center, which transitioned to being what is known now as the Orlando United Assistance, currently under Joel's leadership. He was instrumental in creating the Central Florida LGBTQ+ Relief Fund, a collaboration of several LGBTQ organizations and mutual aid fund that helped over 700 LGBTQ+ families during the peak of the pandemic in 2020. Throughout volunteerism, a longstanding community builder, Joel is one of the cofounders of QLatinx, a grassroots racial, social, and gender justice organization dedicated to the advancement and empowerment of the LGBTQ+ Latinx community. He also serves on many community boards, including grant committee member for Contigo Fund, stakeholder forum for the National Mass Violence Victimization Resource Center, leadership team for the American Cancer Society, and others. An advocate for survivors, he was trained and certified with the Florida Crisis Response Team.…”