Queer Places:
3273 Grove Rd, Boynton Beach, FL 33435
Norman Aaron (1922 - January 15, 2002) was a gay rights activist in Palm Beach County, FL. He is thought to be the first openly gay man in Palm Beach County to be appointed in 1991. He died on January 15, 2002, of natural causes.
Retired Judge Rand Hoch, the president of the human rights council, said Norman Aaron, a longtime Boynton resident, tried to convince the Boynton commission in 1993 to enact a gay-inclusive civil rights ordinance, but failed. At the request of the Palm Beach County Human Rights Council (PBCHRC), the Boynton Beach City Commission has approved a Civil Rights ordinance in March 2015. “More than two decades ago, Boynton Beach failed to enact an ordinance including ‘sexual orientation’ in a citywide civil rights ordinance,” Hoch said. “It is unfortunate that Norm did not live long enough to see this ordinance pass. He would have been so proud.”
Hoch served as PBCHRC’s president until 1992, when he was appointed by Gov. Lawton Chiles to serve as Florida's first openly gay judge. Before he was sworn in, Hoch asked civil rights activist Norman Aaron to join the PBCHRC Board. Aaron was elected to serves as PBCHRC’s president in 1992 and held that position until he died in 2002. Aaron was succeeded by as president Jamie Todd Foreman-Plakas. Shortly thereafter, Hoch, having retired from the bench, rejoined the PBCHRC Board of Directors, serving as the organization’s legislative director. When Foreman-Plakas stepped down as president in November 2006, Hoch was once again elected president.
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