Gay employees say DOJ blocking 'pride' event

June 6, 2003 | www.cnn.com

[No Dems 2004]

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Gay and lesbian employees at the Justice Department said Friday that officials have told them they will not be permitted to hold a gay pride event later this month.

Justice Department spokesman Barbara Comstock declined to comment, saying that the issue is an "internal matter."

The president of DOJ Pride, a group of gay and lesbian Justice Department workers, said members are upset by the decision.

"We want this decision to be reversed. We simply want equal treatment with other employee association groups," said the group's president, Marina Colby.

Colby said she was informed May 31 that the event, set for June 18, could not go forward. She said she took part in a conference call this week with Justice Department officials in which she was told the group could not hold the event because Gay Pride Month, which is June, has not been recognized with a formal proclamation from President Bush.

She said her group would like to meet directly with someone from the attorney general's office to discuss the matter.

Greg Friel, another member of DOJ Pride, said the department is trying to send a message. "I think they are sending us a signal they want us to go back into the closet, quite frankly," Friel said.

Friel said that some conservative groups criticized the Justice Department for holding a gay pride event last year. Deputy Attorney General Larry Thompson spoke at that event. Friel said there has been some form of commemoration of gay pride at the Justice Department yearly since 1997.

Gay Pride Month is not recognized uniformly across government agencies. The Environmental Protection Agency held a gay pride event Wednesday. The State Department has one scheduled for later in the month.

However, a member of a gay employees organization at the Commerce Department said his group was informed last year that the department would no longer sponsor or participate in such events. He said gay employees can still use Commerce Department facilities for meetings.

[No Dems 2004]

Well, this looks like some good news. It's about time the White House woke up and realised that homosexuals aren't their friends, and started figuring out who really is.

I hope this decision holds.

[RAT Patrol]

Greg Friel, another member of DOJ Pride, said the department is trying to send a message. "I think they are sending us a signal they want us to go back into the closet, quite frankly," Friel said.

They need to make up their minds. Is it an issue for the privacy of one's own bedroom or an issue to be paraded at workplaces with pride?

[T Lady]

Sounds like John Ashcroft put his foot down on this one. I say it's high time other government agencies begin to follow suit and expose the whole Gay-rights fraud for what it really is, and how their lobbyists bully and demonize those who disagree with their 'lifestyle.'

-Regards, T.

[Ligeia]

They need to make up their minds. Is it an issue for the privacy of one's own bedroom or an issue to be paraded at workplaces with pride?

There's an award-winning tagline in there somewhere. . .

[codder too]

Colby..."We simply want equal treatment with other employee association groups."

What does that include?????

[RoughDobermann]

I wonder if the DOJ would object to a Straight Pride event?

[SwinneySwitch]

Have never seen a HMEAINHWM day, week, or month held in any federal agency! (Heterosexual, Monogamous, European, Atlantic/Islander, Non-Hispanic, White, Males)

[No Dems 2004]

"Sounds like John Ashcroft put his foot down on this one. I say it's high time other government agencies begin to follow suit and expose the whole Gay-rights fraud for what it really is, and how their lobbyists bully and demonize those who disagree with their 'lifestyle.'"

Agreed. There is absolutely nothing to be gained from the gay rights movement for the GOP. Most people aren't even interested in knowing what the weirdos are up to. Look at Senator Santorum - how many people cared when he compared homosexuality to bestiality and adultery? And, as we learned with Trent Lott, just one ill-advised remark can destroy a politician's career - or at least greatly hinder it. But Santorum was given a clean bill of health: Tom DeLay congratulated him 'for standing on principle'; and President Bush and Senator Frist praised him for the job he was doing, refusing to issue any reproof whatsoever.

The GOP needs to realise much more fully that being opposed to the homosexual agenda is the right thing to do, both morally and even politically.

[No Dems 2004]

Exactly. Because, we're not special, you see . . . :)

[T Lady]

I'll tell you what that includes. Not letting their opponents get a word in edgewise, or allowing anyone to disagree with the way they conduct themselves, that's what. In other words, they name streets after people like Colby and other lobbyists-One Way.

-Regards, T.

[Paul Atreides]

What about the Straight Pride events?

Homosexuals like to get up and whine that they don't want to be defined by they sexual preferences, then go out of their way to say "look at me, I'm a homosexual," and throw it up in everone's faces.

[Centurion2000]

Gay and lesbian employees at the Justice Department said Friday that officials have told them they will not be permitted to hold a gay pride event later this month.

These pukes need to get over this stupid idea that their LIVES are defined by their sexual orientation.

[Steve Eisenberg]

I wonder if the DOJ would object to a Straight Pride event?

For sure. DOJ should strive for an image (and reality) of impartiality, and that would be harmed by having employees who can't let their politicized activities, even good ones, wait until after work.

[timm22]

We simply want equal treatment with other employee association groups.

The only problem is, there shouldn't be any employee association groups at the Justice Department, gay, straight, or whatever. It is a tax-funded government institution.

If you want to form a special group with your fellow government employees, you need to have your events outside of the workplace. Americans don't pay you to feel pride in your lifestyle or ethnic heritage.

[Paul Atreides]

"I think they are sending us a signal they want us to go back into the closet, quite frankly," Friel said.

Sounds like a good idea.

[IronJack]

I can't imagine most employers rushing to allow their employees to celebrate their sexual preferences on company time, let alone a preference that is an abomination to the prevailing morality.

[T Lady]

I'm with you 100% on that one!

-Regards, T.

[Im Your Huckleberry]

Good. I hope they stand firm.

I've yet to see how homosexual acts of fellatio, anal sex, fisting or cunnilingus qualify as something to be "proud" of.

This is nothing more than another whiney, b!tch group trying to "get one over on the straights" and intimidate the "breeders". That's all it is.

Homosexuality is not an issue of identity it's an issue of behavior which is why it is almost universally reviled.

[codder too]

You've got it. Thought perhaps there was a "straight pride parade" on the schedule that we missed.

[lilylangtree]

"Gay Pride Month is not recognized uniformly across government agencies"

Trying to make homos a national holiday! Good grief! The world has been turned upside down. Go back into the closet perverts!