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Gabriel Rothblatt
 Gabriel Rothblatt (born October 5, 1982) is a technoprogressive political activist, a 2014 congressional candidate, and a writer and speaker in the futurist and transhumanist movements. Early life and educationBorn to Bina and transgender businesswoman Martine Rothblatt, Rothblatt is Black, Jewish, and comes from an LGBTQ family.[1][2] His parents founded Sirius Satellite Radio, United Therapeutics and other companies[which?].[3] After graduating from high school, he earned a degree in political philosophy at the University of Vermont.[2] He works for MIO, LLC as a property manager and has previously managed a restaurant franchise and worked as an insurance broker.[2] His great grandfather, Isadore Rothblatt, was a union organizer and was beaten to death by anti-union activists because of his union activities with the Leatherworker's Union of Chicago.[4] Rothblatt and his wife Taj divorced in June 2021.[citation needed] They have four children together.[4] ActivismHuman rightsRothblatt is an outspoken advocate for human rights. In his 2014 congressional campaign, he was endorsed by the National Organization for Women[5] and the Teamsters Local Union 769.[6] He also was a featured speaker at the South Brevard NAACP's banquet dinner.[7] He is a Member Delegate of the Space Coast Progressive Alliance and Vice President of the Brevard Chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union.[8] SpaceRothblatt is an advocate for space, public speaker on the advantageous of investing in space settlements, and President of the Florida Space Development Council, the National Space Society's local chapter.[9] In a talk hosted by students from SEDS, at the University of Michigan, Rothblatt advocated that space exploration should not resemble the space race but should be an endeavor of international collaboration.[1] In a congressional debate, Rothblatt stated that he believes missions to the moon, Mars, and asteroids should be a priority, and under the right plan a 1,000 people could be in space within a decade.[10] Space was such a significant part of Rothblatt's campaign BBC News ran a story covering both candidates position on space and titled it Florida's space race: The politicians battling over the cosmos.[11] Lisa Miller, from New York magazine, wrote that the first item on Rothblatt's platform is "space."[12] Rothblatt has written on various space topics including spacesteading[13] and panspermia.[14] TranshumanismRothblatt is a Pastor, Community Organizer, and member of the Board of Directors with the Terasem Movement.[15][16] Rothblatt writes and speaks on transhumanist topics, such as seasteading,[17][18] cryonics,[19] religion,[20] mind uploading,[21] and technological discrimination.[22][23] Political campaignsDuring the 2014 Midterm elections, Rothblatt ran as a Democratic Party candidate against incumbent Bill Posey in Florida's 8th congressional district.[24] Rothblatt qualified for the ballot by gathering 4,936 signatures; the minimum required was 4,834.[25] Issues of concern to him were technological unemployment, protecting family values, promoting education, protecting the environment, developing space, and human rights.[4][26] His belief in transhumanism and his family ties were both regularly covered by the media. Jessica Roy, from Time, commented that his status as a member of Terasem may be just as difficult for his campaign as being a Democrat in the Republican majority district.[27] During a campaign event, gubernatorial candidate Charlie Crist introduced him by saying "Gabriel is the messenger that God sent."[28] Others were critical of Rothblatt's campaign. Katie Prill, from the National Republican Congressional Committee, wrote that "his radical ideas are too extreme for Florida families."[26] Posey's spokesman, George Cecala, stated that, "It all comes down to the real issue, and that is Bill Posey is a conservative and Gabriel Rothblatt is a liberal.[26] Posey won the election, but Neely Tucker at the Washington Post called his campaign "a respectable debut,"[29] and Dustin Ashley wrote that his campaign "opens the door for other transhumanists to become part of the political action."[30] SpacePACRothblatt was supported by SpacePAC, a Political Action Committee (PAC) founded by his parents.[26] Under campaign finance laws, PACs are not permitted to collaborate with the candidate.[26] Due to these restrictions, the Rothblatts were not permitted to discuss the campaign together until the election was over.[26] The New York Times criticized the PAC because it was run by his parents.[31] USA Today reported that Rothblatt was unaware of his parents PAC until he saw yard signs promoting his candidacy.[32] According to William Patrick, from Watchdog.org, Posey knew of the family relationship between Rothblatt and the PAC, but Posey declined to comment.[33] Dave Berman, from Florida Today, noted that even with the support of SpacePAC, Posey's campaign had far more funds than Rothblatt's campaign.[34] Alex Leary, from the Tampa Bay Times reported that SpacePAC was not the first PAC to be set up by a wealthy parents to support their child's campaign.[35] References
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