|
Supporters of Kunst, a veteran gay activist, and Miklowitz, the longtime president of Tallahassee's NOW chapter, sometimes invite their listeners at political rallies to: "Just imagine hugging a stuffed animal, as opposed to a live human being and you can see the difference between a baby sucking on a rubber nipple (inanimate) as opposed to a live, warm breast that connects it to it's origin (mother)." Kunst/Miklowitz, according to their supporters, recognize this need. "They believe in offering incentives to mothers to give up the bottle and breast-feed their children, explains one contributor to the campaign. "Linda Miklowitz breast-fed her own children." According to Bob Kunst, we could offer "incentives for nursing, and overcoming public hang-ups over this, as part of parental education courses {with} TV Ads, billboards, etc." It could, says Kunst, be "part of all social services programs, pre-natal care programs, health and human services programs, hospital, doctors programs, and {we could offer} matching federal {or state} monies for any of it." Kunst adds: "The emotional and sexual hang-ups of the immoral minority and their screwed up politicians has made it a taboo, including public feeding. This disconnect between mother and child has been extended into private places as well, where the time factor is blamed for not doing it at all. "The Guilt that this is something "dirty" has infected the mind of the mother, which is then taken out on the child. The social repercussions of this dehumanization are worse as a result. We must turn this around, for a cultural/political divide has become a reality and a detriment to society as a whole, let alone the family unit. Breast feeding is natural and should be considered as normal as birth itself."
Encouraging working mothers to spend more time with their children, Linda Miklowitz suggests: " {It} can easily done by having policies for state workers through the Department of Management Services where they can take annual leave or even sick leave to go to child care center to nurse. We can also encourage agency heads to establish on-site day care to lessen the amount of time mothers need to see the kids. "There's lots of research on the benefits of on-site daycare in the workplace. I organized a town hall meeting in, I think, 1993 for NCJW's Day of the Working Parent. Marriott was the co-sponsor nationally, and we had it at their hotel here. "As a DOT (Department of Transportation) litigation attorney, I was president of DOT Care, applying for a state grant to put a childcare center on site. The Department of HSMV (Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles)got the grant because they had a one-story out building they could convert. We would have had to buy or rent a house nearby." Miklowitz continues: "Kunst/Miklowitz can set an example for private employees by making it easier for new mothers who are state employees to breastfeed by providing flextime that would not cost the taxpayers, since the employee would work alternate times or take leave without pay. In the long run, it would result in less turnover and absenteeism and higher morale, saving the state money. "State employee morale is so low now and anxiety is so high after 3 1/2 years of ill treatment by the Bush administration, we need to do anything we can do to show respect to state workers, especially where the cost is minimal. Many employees value respect as much or more than a small pay raise," she says. |
|
Miami, Florida-Along with the species-specific ingredients found in breast milk, there is also a bonding that takes place between a breast-feeding mother and her child, one that cannot be replicated, according to Florida's independent gubernatorial candidates Bob Kunst and Linda Miklowitz.
Florida gubernatorial candidate Bob Kunst and running mate Linda Miklowitz© 1997-2002 BEI
The sexual orientation of individuals pictured in and writers for
Gay Today should not be assumed.
