Posted on 01/22/2005 3:01:10 PM PST by Zechariah_8_13
SPOKANE, Wash. — Gay activists in this staid Washington city are planning to create a neighborhood of gay-oriented homes, businesses and nightlife — a development religious conservatives contend would clash with Spokane's family-centered culture. "A gay mecca is not what we'd like to see Spokane marketed as," said Penny Lancaster, director of Community Impact Spokane (search), a network of evangelical Christians. "I'd rather see us promoted as a conservative, family-oriented community without any reference to sexual orientation."
But proponents of the plan say a gay district would signal that Spokane is tolerant and progressive. "There is a very large gay population here," said Bonnie Aspen, a business owner who arrived with her partner two years ago to escape the congestion of the San Francisco Bay (search) area. Spokane — which in trendy Seattle is shorthand for tragically unhip — has long been dominated by conservative politics that stem from its history as a mining and farming center. But it also has a large core of Democrats and libertarians who share the West's live-and-let-live philosophy. Most of all, the city identifies itself as a good place to raise a family — and opponents contend that's at odds with the image of a gay district.
The idea for the district has roots in the theories of Richard Florida, an economist whose 2002 book "The Rise of the Creative Class" contends the economy of the future will be created by the 38 million workers who toil in creative industries. Florida, a Carnegie Mellon University professor, said members of the creative class consider recreation, culture and ethnic diversity, including a large population of gays, as central to where they live. Places like New York, Boston, San Francisco and Seattle have those qualities. Places like Spokane generally do not. Even though they face little discrimination...
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
The article notes "...(Spokane) also has a large core of Democrats and libertarians who share the West's live-and-let-live philosophy" seeks to imply that those opposed are "meddling" in the affairs of homosexuals. However, it's the homosexual minority who are meddling in the affairs of the heterosexual majority.
The issue is that the homosexuals do NOT want to simply "Live and let live." They already have that, and that is not enough.
Instead, they want to indoctrinate new converts to homosexuality, as evidenced by the last sentence of the article:
"It would help youth struggling with their sexuality to realize they don't have to go away to a big city to be gay. You can be gay right here in Spokane," he said.
How about a GAY Island in Indonesia!
Canada?
Gawd--they already have Provincetown Massachusetts, essentially all of NYC below 14th St. and all of San Francisco.
Why is the Pacific Northwest a magnet for separatist movements? Isn't Spokane home to a lot of skinheads too? Skinheads vs. gay men must be entertaining.
ANyone else get the irony in this statement?
You're right about anything below 14st hehehe.
That idea is a washout...
If they can start an exclusive community, can we?
Cy! You little snowbound thing you...hope you got all your food shopping done.
I don't guess they would mind a hetrosexual only neighborhood too, then.
getting worse than SF up there isn't it????????
I ran around doing my errands. I was going to the big motorcycle expo today but no way, not with this snow. It started snowing exactly when they said! LOL
A wash out?? Hey! they can start with a clean beach!! The Sodomy Islands, where everyone has a Shi++y outlook on life!
Could be heading in that direction but SF is in a class by itself.
I may have to think about this one. It might not be so bad if these militant gays had their own neighborhood, stores, etc. since it would keep them out of ours!
People keep saying only one or two percent of the population is gay, but they sure seem to get around. Even given their disproportionate influence and tons of good publicity, the numbers seem higher than that.
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