VOLUNTEER SPOTLIGHT

Connie Bartels

SAVE Dade applauds the encouraging work of Connie Bartels on behalf of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community, among so many other minority groups she continues to fight for.

“It’s so refreshing and inspiring that someone of her generation is so progressive thinking,” said SAVE Dade Community Coordinator, Joseph Mooradian. “ She has an amazing story and an amazing history.”

Connie, 82, was introduced to SAVE Dade about a year and a half ago by a member of her church. Having been involved in activism in some form or another throughout much of her life, she began volunteering with SAVE, driving an hour each way every Thursday to dedicate a couple of hours of her time and service. With so much that goes on behind the curtain of an advocacy group, Connie has taken an administrative role in maintaining order in the SAVE Dade office, programming data and arranging computer files. During the No On 2 campaign, Connie single-handedly uploaded tremendous amounts of information onto the SAVE Dade database. But then again, Connie has never been a stranger to volunteering for the greater good.

“I think the first time was during WWII and marching with the Salvation Army,” Connie laughed, reminiscing.

Before moving to Florida six years ago, Connie lived in Connecticut for 43 years, where she worked in vocational counseling. She later switched to vocational rehabilitation to help persons with certain disabilities find entry into special programs, schools, colleges, and attain Social Security and disability benefits.

Even as a young girl in the 1930’s, Connie had an acute awareness of the injustices minorities faced around the country. She recalled coming to Florida when she was 8 years old and witnessing cruel, discriminatory signs posted along the beach that read, “No Blacks Allowed after Sunset without a Note from Their Employer” and “No Catholics, Dogs or Jews.”

“It got my sensitivity aroused seeing those things as a youngster,” said Connie.

It was that same sensitivity that led Connie to become politically involved throughout her life. She worked closely with the NAACP during its early years, and she helped integrate the Carpenters Union in Stanford. The more Connie continued her fight for equality, the more LGBT people she began to know along the way. While it was considered heavily taboo then to be gay or lesbian, Connie did not shun it.

“I’m that kind of person, I believe in civil rights for everyone,” she said.

Connie never grew up thinking homosexuality was something to be hated or feared. Her great-aunt was a lesbian who worked as a school principal. At age 12, Connie read,“The Well of Loneliness,” at the time a controversial book, which tells the story of a young woman who realizes she is a lesbian and goes soul searching. In her view, being LGBT did not mean being less-than anyone else, and today she continues to fight for LGBT equality.

Aside from volunteering with SAVE Dade, Connie is currently the Chairman of the Catering Committee, which provides services to the ill on behalf of the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Miami.

“Connie is part of an age demographic that oftentimes is very conservative and not open to talking about LGBT issues, which is the total opposite of what she is, ” said SAVE Dade Executive Director C.J. Ortuno. “I mention Connie to other seniors who are nervous about becoming involved in the fight for LGBT equality. She proves that no matter what generation you come from, acceptance is universal.”