U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor will serve as honorary grand marshal of the 2016 St. Pete Pride Parade on Saturday, June 25, and released the following statement:   “The 2016 St. Pete Pride Parade has taken on a new relevance and meaning following the Orlando Pulse nightclub tragedy and serving as grand marshal will be an opportunity to encourage healing among our neighbors. This hateful… Read more »

I am devastated by the terrible mass shooting in Orlando, a community of our friends and family. I share their anguish and that of the LGBTQ community. On behalf of them and my saddened neighbors in Tampa Bay, I pledge to work to root out terrorists who seek to do us harm, to fight for greater safety and security for our families, and work for greater understanding among all of our… Read more »

U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor (FL14) has nominated the great educator and visionary, Mary McLeod Bethune, to replace Confederate Gen. Kirby Smith, which currently represents Florida in the U.S. Capitol’s Statuary Hall. Read more »

On the day that the U.S. Soccer Women’s National Team opens the inaugural SheBelieves Cup in her congressional district in Tampa, Fla., U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor (FL14) called on FIFA to fully and effectively implement the new gender equity reforms adopted by FIFA last week. “While the election of the new FIFA president garnered most of the headlines last week, the more meaningful action by… Read more »

Today, U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor announced that Tampa was selected as one of only 27 communities nationwide to participate in ConnectHOME, which promotes locally tailored solutions to help bridge the gap in digital access for working-class households by addressing the barriers they have to high-speed broadband. Read more »

U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor (D-Tampa/St. Petersburg, FL) released the following statement after the U.S. Supreme Court today issued its opinion regarding the same-sex marriage case, Obergefell v. Hodges: Read more »

Chloe Coney remembers her segregated grade school, when she finally got permission to sit in the front of the bus and the voting-rights marches in 1965. Read more »

U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor (D-Tampa/St. Petersburg, FL) cheered the end of discrimination against gay couples in Florida on this first, historic day of marriage equality. U.S. Rep. Castor credited equal rights advocates across Florida for progress and congratulated all of Florida’s committed couples who have waited so long for marriage equality.   “Equal rights are fundamental to our… Read more »

U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor (D-Tampa, St. Petersburg, FL) sent a letter to Attorney General Eric Holder to urge a Justice Department inquiry relating to civil rights restoration in Florida. In Florida, most non-violent offenders never regain their civil rights and voting rights due to multi-year and bureaucratic requirements imposed by the Florida Clemency Board. Read more »

U.S. Representative Kathy Castor (D-Tampa/St. Petersburg, FL) who in 2005 sought to pass an expanded human rights ordinance after the Hillsborough County Commission adopted an anti-gay pride policy with Castor alone voting no released the following statement today: Read more »