Posted on 06/25/2005 7:50:15 PM PDT by Crackingham
It started with a few complaints about a public library exhibit on gay authors, and resulted in an ordinance that has drawn the ire of gay rights advocates around the nation. The Hillsborough County Commission approved by a vote of 5 to 1, with one abstention, a policy that directs the county government to "abstain from acknowledging, promoting or participating" in gay pride recognition or events. The measure was passed on June 15, after a Gay and Lesbian Pride Month display at the West Gate Regional Library here upset some library patrons. The commission also voted to require a supermajority vote of 5 to 2 to overturn the policy.
Meagan Albright, a graduate student at University of South Florida, created the exhibit on gay authors and literature to fulfill a requirement for a course on diversity. As part of the exhibit, Ms. Albright made available pamphlets that listed counseling resources for teenagers who have questions about their sexuality.
Commissioner Ronda Storms, who introduced the measure and has received the brunt of local criticism about it, said the pamphlet troubled her the most.
"One of the things that occurred was that pamphlets were being distributed to children by librarians who are county employees," Ms. Storms said, "and they referred children to youth groups outside Hillsborough County to explore their sexuality."
Doing so, she said, could lead the children to engage in "high-risk behavior."
Hector Vargas, southern regional director of Lambda Legal, a gay civil rights group, said it was not the first time that a local government had sought to adopt an anti-gay policy. But he said it might be the first time in recent years that one so broad had succeeded.
"Many have tried and failed," Mr. Vargas said. "Typically we've seen these types of policies in the private sector."
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
That does not stop the city of Tampa ,in promoting their "All Gay, All the Time" agenda.
The only way around the statutes is to just leave the brochures laying there for people (recipients) to pick up themselves.
These postage due criminals are all the time trying this sort of thing, and sometimes they get caught and have to pay big time. This is a clear-cut case of felonious behavior.
Let's hope they hang tough. It won't be easy. The Rats are everywhere, and they're used to getting their way.
Breaking news - Trojan doesn't see any dip in sales!
Nice of him to "out" himself. So Mr Vargas, not pushing the gay agenda now means one is "anti-gay"? And thanks to Rhonda Storms for trying to keep MY taxes from paying for it. Now if she could do something about the Hillsborough county schools doing the same thing.
Good move placing it on the front page news section!
ping
That is code for 'union' I suppose.
Actual MLS type librarians probably aren't union. They imagine themselves to be professionals on the same level as lawyers and doctors. Consequently, they're always trying to justify their existence by thinking they're the last bastions of protection for the first amendment.
Free speech to them means kids can read/see porno at the library. Meanwhile, political free speech suppression, as in McCain-Feingold is not something they're worried about.
Good for them, I hope they can make it stick.
>>Actual MLS type librarians probably aren't union. They imagine themselves to be professionals on the same level as lawyers and doctors.<<
I'm not sure I'd go that far. My sister has an MLS, is a librarian, and I'm an attorney. They may think of themselves as professionals, but I think its more along the line of teachers or professors.
I live in this area and saw Rhonda Storms on the local news. She was sticking to her guns. She basically said, I know this area and I don't think the majority of the community approves of this exhibit. And that was that.
Gay being defined as homosexual and homosexual meaning having sex with someone of your own gender, where is it proscribed that the state is obliged to promote how you have sex (to put it politely)?
Im curious would state and local government have glue sniffing fairs? or classes on safe Huffing of chemicals? Why not? These are recreational behaviors just like homosexual sex. They both probably have the same level of risk through chemical affect on the body. Why wouldn't they want to promote it too?
I can accept that all librarians are not alike. My views are based on the librarians I've worked with (particularly in administrative positions) and the national ALA mailing lists that I read regularly. They may not be representative of the group as a whole despite their "volume".
NY Times is "exposing" this "anti-gay", hick, Florida community. They think that by exposing it, ____? (People will feel sympathy for the homosexual cause??)
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