It's all about morals
By Pedro Julio Serrano, Communications Coordinator, July 25, 1:46 pm
It's all about morals, my mother used to say. And it is. I saw it very clearly yesterday when Task Force Executive Director Matt Foreman spoke at a rally condemning the bigotry of Fort Lauderdale Mayor Jim Naugle.
Matt and I flew in yesterday morning to participate at the UNITE Fort Lauderdale rally on the steps of City Hall. It was a sharp contrast to see Matt providing the moral leadership that Mayor Naugle lacks.
Hours before the rally, Naugle called a press conference to apologize. We all thought he had come to his senses, but in an appalling move, he added insult to injury. He dared to “apologize” for “not being fully aware of the depth of the problem with sexual activity in parks and public places.”
My mother used to tell me that being a moral person is to conduct oneself with dignity. The homophobic and bigoted actions of a mayor, who is supposed to represent everyone in his city, are immoral. To promote hate, violence and intolerance against your own constituents is a lack of integrity and good judgment from someone who is supposed to be the first one to uphold the law.
In a clear and hopeful contrast, the rally was organized by UNITE Fort Lauderdale’s Waymon Hudson. To see an energetic and passionate young activist hard at work in ensuring that Naugle’s bigotry did not go unchallenged was inspiring. Waymon managed to organize a huge rally with a great turnout, huge media coverage, and to arrange a diverse and powerful list of speakers.
Among those speakers, I stood proud as I watched Matt address the Fort Lauderdale rally participants with dignity, a respectful sense of morality and the fortitude of being an uncompromising voice for equality. Matt argued that Naugle's “comments do more than embarrass any thinking person. They are a stain on the entire city, and even worse, they incite violence and discrimination here and wherever they are heard.”
And Matt explained clearly why we had traveled to Fort Lauderdale when he said, “I am here today because Mayor Naugle's shameful words and deeds are not only an egregious insult to Ft. Lauderdale’s lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community and all decent people in Broward County — they defame all gay people coast to coast.”
Indeed, my mother was right when she told me that being moral was to conduct oneself with dignity. Yesterday, I saw myself and the LGBT community reflected in the strong moral leadership Matt and Waymon provided. But most of all, I sensed that this country is in dire need for that kind of leadership from our elected officials — leadership with integrity, dignity and with a clear sense that we are all created equal. It’s not that hard to treat everyone equally. By all means, it’s the moral thing to do.
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Wednesday, 7/25/2007, 9:46 PM (EST)
PJ,
I have been unable to find Mayor Naugles transcript of his statements before his “apology.” However, it is alarming for me to see the NGLTF supporting illegal activities. It is illegal to have sex in public restrooms. WE ALL KNOW THAT GAY MEN, BISEXUAL AND BI-MARRIED MEN ARE HAVING SEX IN THE PUBLIC RESTROOMS, AND PARKS. It’s happening in every city in the nation. Hell, here in Seattle just go to one of our local parks and you can get sex.
What is horrible about forcing citizenry to obey the law? If you want to stick your heads in the sand and try to ignore that we, gay men, are having sex in public spaces then go right ahead. The problem probably is as rampant as Mayor Naugle says.
I agree with him. I believe that he is trying to make his city safe for everyone. People, male, female; gay, straight or otherwise do not have the right to have sex in public spaces. IT’S ILLEGAL. I believe that it should stay that way.
I am a gay father of two. I don’t want my 13 yr old son bouncing into the bathrooms at the park to witness some guy gettin a blow job. Sex in public is illegal for just that reason.
This is not a gay rights issue. I think that NGLTF should rethink its position on this subject.Rusty Jones
Thursday, 7/265/2007, 11:09 AM (EST)
Rusty —
Thanks for your feedback.
I haven’t heard anyone defending or promoting public sex. The Ft. Lauderdale police department says this isn’t a problem, and the mayor had to cite an arrest in Coral Gables and that of the straight legislator upstate to try to say it was. If it was a problem, there are many ways to deal with it, without resorting to blatantly anti-gay comments and smearing us all with ugly stereotypes.
Matt Foreman
Executive Director
National Gay and Lesbian Task Force
Saturday, 7/28/2007, 6:06 PM (EST)
"Any thinking person"
this idea is, today, an greatly mistaken assumption. What far more people do, rather than 'thinking' is live on their emotions. This entire country survives on emotional drama and reaction: politics, the legal system, religion, even patriotism is little other than an emotional button stimulating irrational reactions. This current war is a signing example. Bigotry is nothing other than emotional reaction as with the Ft. Lauderdale mayor and the citizens that put him in office and, I would suspect, that a great number of that gay, lesbian, da dah population provide a good deal of support. That is emotion over intelligence. Not that there is much intelligence in the US either - a
very poor standard for all the advantages within this country, such as giving self esteem as though it were anyone's to give.
Little changes really, childish emotional reactions cause the same response as thousands of years ago - anger and war.
Irvin Nickerson
