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I live 20 minutes from Dayton in a small community smaller and just as conservative. The people are not "dumb hicks" as mentioned in another thread but they did go about this thing all wrong. They never said that they would ban gays. They just want to make Dayton and Rhea County an undesirable place for them to live. Every small town in TN feels this way but don't normally go public with it. The worst thing they did was to let it get into the news media. Small towns here have always handled their town problems with something called "Southern country justice" and it has been working for years and will continue to work. The people of Dayton and other small towns like mine are not isolationist as accused in a news article. They welcome new people to the community. They are the friendliest people on earth but are very conservative, independent and protective of their own. All they want is to keep a decent lifestyle in a community where their kids are safe and free to grow up without being exposed to the darker sides of life. Homosexuals are the vilest of freaks next to pedophiles in this area and they are not welcome in a family oriented community like Dayton.

I'm glad they rescinded their request because all that would do is to make the freaks force themselves on this beautiful community just to make a point. I feel like they were overwhelmed with the media coverage about gay marriage happening in other states and fear that it might come here. They should have thought it out better or at least kept it private.

Oh and yes, they do own computers and other modern conveniences. :-)

I reread my post and I think I'll clarify something I said because I didn't explain it very well. This is where I got my information. On our local radio stations officials from Dayton were asked if they wanted to "ban" gays. They said they would like to but knew they couldn't and that it wasn't possible or legal. The community residents would like to see them banned but that's their personal opinions. The council wanted to ban same sex marriages and did admit to wanting them kept out of Dayton. They didn't mean a literal physical ban even though I'm sure they wish they could. They want to make it difficult and unpleasant for them to live in Dayton. From there the media reported that they asked to ban homosexuals but that was not actually what they did according to what we have heard. Everybody here knows it's not possible and most people don't want to live in a place where others could be banned. It's not very American. :-) I trust what I hear reported locally more than I believe what I see printed by outside news media because they are famous for reporting misleading information to stir up trouble. I wasn't there and all I have to go on is the local news.