A gay rights advocate who was integral in legalizing same-sex marriage in Florida was found dead in a landfill, which is being investigated as a homicide. officials said Wednesday.
George Diaz-Johnston, 54, brother of former Miami mayor Manny Diaz, was last seen alive on Jan. Tallahassee Police Said, Shortly after a missing person’s warning was issued for him on Saturday, his body was found in a garbage dump at a landfill in Baker, Florida, about 60 miles east of the Alabama border. According to the Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office,
Diaz, who served as the mayor of Miami from 2001 to 2009, issued a statement on Twitter confirming his brother’s death.
“I deeply appreciate the support shown to me, my brother-in-law Don and my family after the loss of my brother George Diaz-Johnston,” he wrote. “My brother was such a special gift to this world whose heart and legacy will live on for generations to come.”
While he had a high-profile brother, Diaz-Johnston made a name for himself. In 2014, she and her husband, Don Diaz-Johnston, and five other same-sex couples sued the Miami-Dade County Clerk’s office. prevented from marrying,
“For us, it’s not just a question of love and wanting to express our love and benefits to everyone in the state, but it’s an issue of equality, and it’s a civil rights issue,” George Diaz- johnston Told NBC Miami those days.
In January 2015, a Miami-Dade Circuit Court judge ruled in favor of the couples, more than a year before the South Florida county legalized same-sex marriage. Supreme Court legalizes same-sex marriage across the country,
Elizabeth Schwartz, who represented six couples in the case, called Diaz-Johnston’s death “heartbreaking.”
“They worked so hard to establish their love and be able to enjoy the institution of marriage and end the marriage in a way that – in this gruesome, heartbreaking way – there are no words,” she said. . Told NBC Miami,
According to public records, George and Don Diaz-Johnston married in March 2015, shortly after winning their case. Don Diaz-Johnston addressed his death on Facebook, alongside an image of her husband smiling at the camera during dinner.
“There are no words for the loss of my dear husband, George Isaias Diaz-Johnston.” She wrote, “I can’t stop crying as I try and write this. But he meant as much to you all as he did to me. So I fight back with tears to share my loss with you all.” I’m staying.”
Miami’s current mayor, Daniela Levin Cava, acknowledged Diaz-Johnston’s role in advancing LGBTQ rights in the city.
“In George Diaz-Johnston, we have lost a champion, a leader and a fighter for our LGBTQ community,” she wrote on Twitter. “His tragic loss will be deeply felt by all who loved him, as we honor his life and legacy.”