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I wanted to share the following with everyone, especially those people who do not believe that homophobia and hatred for gay and HIV people continues to fester, even in places you would deem most unlikely. I live in Broward County, Florida and between Broward, Palm Beach and Miami/Dade counties; we share two of the largest gay and poz populations in the nation. The following is a letter to the editor I wrote after recent comments made by the mayor of Fort Lauderdale concerning local affairs and his personal beliefs.
If this can happen here, with such a diverse community, do not doubt that much worse happens far from the public eye.
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Propagating the Hate
I cannot endure another minute of Mayor Naugle’s homophobic remarks, without commenting, as he obviously, needs help in understanding the difference between personal opinion and official public comments. He began with his remarks about an automatic toilet on Fort Lauderdale beach to curb rampant gay sex in public restrooms. Ignoring the fact that there is no rampant sex, of any kind, going on in Fort Lauderdale public restrooms, he still felt it necessary to gay bait the entire issue, based solely on his homophobic beliefs and hatred for homosexuals.
If he presented the issue as one of preventing ANY public sex in restrooms, nobody would have objected because most gays are reasonable people who share the belief that public restrooms are not the appropriate place for sexual activity. Instead, he made it a gay issue by lying and saying gay public sex was rampant. He did not seek to address any real issue, say unwanted public sex; rather he stated his personal beliefs on how repugnant homosexuality is and attempted to create another “negative gay issue” where none existed.
He next targeted the Stonewall Library & Archives. His absurd argument that they should not use public buildings because their collection includes material that he labels as pornography, material that he has never viewed, but has labeled as pornography nonetheless. If his comments were to gain assurance that minors would not have access to any of the library’s adult-oriented material, again, he would have found that is already Stonewalls policy. Instead, he chose to label the material as pornographic as a way of demeaning the function of the Library as a curator of gay history and culture. Once again, he allowed his homophobic beliefs to override his responsibility as mayor.
Then he stepped into the AIDS crisis. He spouted data, every one of them incorrect, because his comments had little to do reducing HIV infections; instead he seeks to inflame the community against the gay segment as perpetuating the HIV infection rates in Broward County. If he had consulted legitimate sources, he would have found that the greatest HIV infection rates are amongst women and those under 25. Exactly how is the gay community contributing to rising HIV infection rates, when our rates overall have been declining? He does not seek to empower anyone to fight HIV infection rates; he just fuels this decades-old notion that HIV and AIDS are the fault of gays and now he has extended his hatred to HIV-positive individuals by associating our shared disease with that “awful” gay community. That same old tired mantra of gay + sex = sin/AIDS.
Further, I never expected he would stoop so low as to enlist the efforts of Rev. O’Neal Dozier; surely, he cannot be serious? He wants the support of a man who just spoke at a recent commission meeting and stated that he speaks for God regarding homosexuals, and that our very existence is an abomination and makes God want to vomit?. Mr. Naugle is mixing his personal beliefs with his official position as the mayor of Fort Lauderdale and the two are incompatible, at least for him, because he cannot set aside his utter hatred of homosexuals.
I believe that people like Mr. Naugle, and now Rev. Dozier constitute the greatest threat to humanity because they believe that they are better than others are, can stand in judgment of them and that espousing bigotry and hatred is a normal function of a public official and human being. They encourage hatred through their words, thoughts, actions, and people like them are omnipresent and foment hatred across the globe. Mr. Naugle and Rev. Dozier are no different from the Nazis, Taliban or the KKK as they all expound the idea that it is acceptable to propagate hatred toward any group, with which you disagree, or deem to be unworthy of existence.
Hated must be taught and these men are propagating hatred by encouraging a generation to despise gay and HIV-positive people because they believe them to be an abomination and therefore deserving of that hatred. I cannot imagine what god they worship because my god loves all creations and understands that diversity is intentional as it enhances our lives and harmony can exist, but only in the absence of people like them.
Saddest of all, is that Mr. Naugle’s ranting would have received little attention, but he is mayor of a city with a large gay and HIV-positive community. Fortunately, time has a way of dealing with bigots, at least political ones, such as Mr. Naugle; he will be gone next year and we will have one less homophobic bully pulpit to endure.
