Gabriel Rothblatt

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Rothblatt speaks at the Mormon Transhumanist Association in 2013

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 education[]

Born to Bina and transgender businesswoman Martine Rothblatt, Rothblatt is Black, Jewish, and comes from a LGBTQ family.[1][2] His parents founded Sirius Satellite Radio and United Therapeutics and other companies.[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 thugs because of his union activities with the Leatherworker's Union of Chicago.[4] Taj Rothblatt, divorced Gabriel Rothblatt in 6/2021; they have four children together.[4]

Activism[]

Human rights[]

Rothblatt is an outspoken advocate for human rights. In his 2014 congressional campaign, he was endorsed by the National Organization for Women,[5] 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]

Space[]

Rothblatt 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]

Transhumanism[]

Rothblatt 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 campaigns[]

During 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]

SpacePAC[]

Rothblatt 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[]

  1. ^ a b Nabeel Chollampat (December 4, 2014). "Space exploration faces future funding hurdles". The Michigan Daily. Retrieved March 14, 2015.
  2. ^ a b c "Biography Gabriel Rothblatt for Congress". Gabriel Rothblatt For Congress. Archived from the original on July 9, 2016. Retrieved March 14, 2015.CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  3. ^ Fredreka Schouten (July 18, 2014). "House bid a stepping stone for space-focused candidate". USA Today. Retrieved March 14, 2015.
  4. ^ a b c "Americans for Gabriel Rothblatt". Democracy For America. Retrieved March 14, 2015.
  5. ^ "Meet the Dudes". Women's Center in Brevard. Archived from the original on December 31, 2014. Retrieved March 14, 2015.
  6. ^ "Teamsters Local Union 769" (PDF). Teamsters Joint Council 75. Retrieved March 14, 2015.
  7. ^ Sara Paulson (October 16, 2014). "Brevard NAACP chapters set plans for annual banquets". Florida Today. Retrieved March 14, 2015.
  8. ^ "Annual Elections Jan. 8, 2015". Space Coast Progressive Alliance. Jan 3, 2014. Retrieved March 14, 2015.
  9. ^ James Dean (March 8, 2015). "NASA's MMS mission set to continue busy month at Cape". Florida Today. Retrieved March 8, 2015.
  10. ^ Dave Berman (October 14, 2014). "Posey, Rothblatt take their shots at congressional debate". Florida Today. Retrieved March 14, 2015.
  11. ^ Debbie Siegelbaum (October 19, 2014). "Florida's space race: The politicians battling over the cosmos". BBC. Retrieved March 14, 2015.
  12. ^ "The Trans-Everything CEO". New York Magazine. September 17, 2014. Retrieved March 14, 2015.
  13. ^ Gabriel Rothblatt (July 15, 2012). "Spacesteading – May the Meek Inhabit the Cosmos". Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies. Retrieved March 14, 2015.
  14. ^ Gabriel Rothblatt (August 24, 2012). "Are We Panspermia or Not? Does Knowing Matter?". Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies. Retrieved March 14, 2015.
  15. ^ "Advisory Board". Lifeboat Foundation. Retrieved March 14, 2015.
  16. ^ "Gabriel Rothblatt". Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies. Retrieved March 14, 2015.
  17. ^ Gabriel Rothblatt (June 9, 2012). "How Can Seasteading End Somali Piracy?". Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies. Retrieved March 14, 2015.
  18. ^ "The Seasteading Conference". The Seasteading Institute. 2012. Retrieved March 14, 2015.
  19. ^ Gabriel Rothblatt (April 6, 2012). "Don't Go To Sleep In The Cold!". Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies. Retrieved March 14, 2015.
  20. ^ Gabriel Rothblatt (June 7, 2012). "Is Transhumanism a Religion?". Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies. Retrieved March 14, 2015.
  21. ^ Gabriel Rothblatt (April 20, 2012). "Will We Have Multiple "Selves" in the Future?". Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies. Retrieved March 14, 2015.
  22. ^ Gabriel Rothblatt (July 20, 2012). "Steve Mann Assaulted at French McDonald's in world's first "Cybernetic Hate Crime". Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies. Retrieved March 14, 2015.
  23. ^ Gabriel Rothblatt (June 13, 2012). "Is the term "Transhumanism" a misnomer?". Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies. Retrieved March 14, 2015.
  24. ^ "Florida's 8th Congressional District". Ballotpedia. Retrieved March 14, 2015.
  25. ^ "Candidates Petition Signatures, 2014 General Elections". Florida Division of Elections. Retrieved March 14, 2015.
  26. ^ a b c d e f Scott Powers (August 18, 2014). "Congressional candidate has faith in technology". Orlando Sentinel. Retrieved March 14, 2015.
  27. ^ Jessica Roy (April 17, 2014). "The Rapture of the Nerds". Time. Retrieved March 14, 2015.
  28. ^ Dave Berman (September 25, 2014). "Charlie Crist goes on the offensive in Melbourne". Florida Today. Retrieved March 14, 2015.
  29. ^ Neely Tucker (December 12, 2014). "Martine Rothblatt: She founded SiriusXM, a religion and a biotech. For starters". Washington Post. Retrieved March 14, 2015.
  30. ^ "Gabriel Rothblatt Lost the Race". transhumanity.net. November 5, 2014. Retrieved March 14, 2015.
  31. ^ "The Custom-Made 'Super PAC'". New York Times. August 3, 2014. Retrieved March 14, 2015.
  32. ^ Fredreka Schouten and Christopher Schnaars (July 18, 2014). "Some candidates' super PACs are a family affair". USA Today. Retrieved March 14, 2015.
  33. ^ William Patrick (July 29, 2014). "Democratic candidate gets $225,000 boost from sole super PAC donor, his dad". Watchdog.org. Retrieved March 14, 2015.
  34. ^ Dave Berman (October 10, 2014). "Numbers don't look good for Brevard Democrats". Florida Today. Retrieved March 14, 2015.
  35. ^ Alex Leary (October 28, 2014). "Florida congressional candidate gets Super PAC boost". Tampa Bay Times. Retrieved March 14, 2015.

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