SAVE (Safeguarding American Values for Everyone)

SAVE (Safeguarding American Values for Everyone) is Florida's longest-serving organization dedicated to protecting lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer people against discrimination. It was founded in 1993 to restore the Miami-Dade nondiscrimination ordinance repealed in 1977 after Anita Bryant's Save Our Children campaign. Since then, SAVE has helped win back that ordinance, fought for marriage equality, and in 2014 updated Miami-Dade's Human Rights Ordinance to include gender identity and gender expression.

SAVE works through political advocacy, community outreach and candidate endorsements across Miami-Dade and Broward counties. Advocacy is Pride, now running year-round, helps residents speak up at city and county commission meetings, with SAVE staff helping them craft talking points. Days of Action bring volunteers together to canvass and phone bank for pro-equality candidates, with training, supplies and snacks provided and no experience needed.

The SAVE Foundation, its education arm, runs the SAVE History Project, the Youth Leadership Conference for South Florida college students, and paid Social Justice internships that track equality policy across 65 cities in Miami-Dade and Broward. With Freidin Brown, P.A., SAVE awards the Social Justice Scholarships to LGBTQ+ and allied students pursuing law, social work, education, public policy and related fields. SAVE Your Education offers a free scholarship database and application templates.

Each year the Champions of Equality Gala brings allies and advocates together, and SAVE turns out as a team at Pride and the Florida AIDS Walk. To get involved, sign up to volunteer, register for an upcoming event, or reach out to the SAVE team by email.