Miami Herald Letters to the Editor: Sex offender label

I am writing in response to the June 20 article, “Florida’s sex offender population is aging. Where can they live out their silver years?” in which I was quoted.

While I appreciate the exposure the Herald has given this important topic, I wanted to correct a gross mis-characterization contained in the article that is contributing to the problem. In the article, I was referred to as “Gail Colleta, an advocate for sex offenders.” That is inaccurate. Neither I nor my organization advocate for sex offenses or people who are offending.

If we continue to refer to this population as “sex offenders” we are perpetuating the perception that this is what they do. It’s not a job title. It’s not like they wake up in the morning, get dressed and go out to sexually offend. This label is a completely inaccurate representation of who they are. They are fathers, sons, co-workers, friends and human beings.

The Florida Action Committee advocates for persons who might have committed a sexual offense years ago, have served their sentences, yet are being subjected to policies that are ineffective, inhumane and counter-productive. Most importantly, we advocate for public safety. Public safety is not achieved by legislating people into homelessness and depriving them of basic human needs.

Those practices go counter to public safety and the empirical evidence proves that. If we want to introduce any rational thought to this topic, we need to stop labeling these human beings as if they were current offenders.