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News and Updates on Ongoing Stories
Update: Fort Lauderdale Airport Incident
-The State's Attorney's Office is still reviewing the case against Jethro Monestime, the
man who confessed to playing a threatening, anti-gay message over the airport PA
system, to see if charges can be filed. Also, the Fort Lauderdale Airport is looking into
the apathetic reaction of the Airport Manager to see if it was "appropriate".
Update: Portland Bus Incident
- TriMet, the Portland bus company, has returned the driver to the same route that goes
to the Sexual Minority Youth Recreation Center with an unspecified punishment. He
continues to come in contact with gay youth on a daily basis.
Update: Fort Lauderdale Mayor's Anti-gay Comments
- The Mayor of Fort Lauderdale, James Naugle, continues his hateful speech towards the
gay community. At a city commission meeting on Jul 10th, he called the Stonewall Library
(a nationally recognized and respected GLBT archives collection) a place for "hard-core
porn" (http://www.miamiherald.com/466/story/166965.html ).
Mayor Naugle once again showed his true colors at a press conference at City Hall.
Flanked by the divisive Rev. O’neal Dozier, Naugle once again used stereotypes and hate
instead of facts in his “apology for not acting sooner on the problem of homosexual sex in
public restrooms.” When asked why his assertions run counter to what the police
department has said, he simply pointed to an incident in South Beach and vague “calls of
complaints from concerned citizens” instead of answering questions with facts.
The UNITE Fort Lauderdale Rally, which President of Fight OUT Loud Waymon Hudson
helped organize, turned out a large crowd at City Hall. Police estimate the number of
attendees to be between 800-1000 people. The crowd included citizens from the
business, religious, legal, and neighborhood communities - a truly diverse representation
of points of view and issues- all united to say that Jim Naugle does not speak for them.
The combined list of speakers came from all walks of life and spoke directly to affordable
housing, global warming, tourism, respect, honesty, and diversity. The threatened
counter-protest turned out no more than 25 people, the majority of which came down from
Pompano with the Rev. O’neal Dozier.
The mayor continues to use hate and stereotypes to attack the GLBT community. He is
finding himself further isolated and publicly scorned. The Broward County Commission
issued a strong rebuke of the mayor at their last meeting, calling his comments
"despicable" and "disgusting" (http://www.365gay.com/Newscon07/08/080807laud.htm).
They also removed him from the Tourism Development Council, thanks in large part to
Fight OUT Loud's urging and documentation (see press release).
Fight OUT Loud continues to fight against the mayor's hate-filled words and deeds,
including asking all advertisers for WFTL and “The Mitch and Morely Show” to reconsider
their ad placement on the station after the announcement was made that Jim Naugle will
co-host on Friday, Aug 10th (see press release).
Update: Fort Lauderdale Airport Incident
-The State's Attorney's Office is still reviewing the case against Jethro Monestime, the
man who confessed to playing a threatening, anti-gay message over the airport PA
system, to see if charges can be filed. Also, the Fort Lauderdale Airport is looking into
the apathetic reaction of the Airport Manager to see if it was "appropriate".
Update: Portland Bus Incident
- TriMet, the Portland bus company, has returned the driver to the same route that goes
to the Sexual Minority Youth Recreation Center with an unspecified punishment. He
continues to come in contact with gay youth on a daily basis.
Update: Fort Lauderdale Mayor's Anti-gay Comments
- The Mayor of Fort Lauderdale, James Naugle, continues his hateful speech towards the
gay community. At a city commission meeting on Jul 10th, he called the Stonewall Library
(a nationally recognized and respected GLBT archives collection) a place for "hard-core
porn" (http://www.miamiherald.com/466/story/166965.html ).
Mayor Naugle once again showed his true colors at a press conference at City Hall.
Flanked by the divisive Rev. O’neal Dozier, Naugle once again used stereotypes and hate
instead of facts in his “apology for not acting sooner on the problem of homosexual sex in
public restrooms.” When asked why his assertions run counter to what the police
department has said, he simply pointed to an incident in South Beach and vague “calls of
complaints from concerned citizens” instead of answering questions with facts.
The UNITE Fort Lauderdale Rally, which President of Fight OUT Loud Waymon Hudson
helped organize, turned out a large crowd at City Hall. Police estimate the number of
attendees to be between 800-1000 people. The crowd included citizens from the
business, religious, legal, and neighborhood communities - a truly diverse representation
of points of view and issues- all united to say that Jim Naugle does not speak for them.
The combined list of speakers came from all walks of life and spoke directly to affordable
housing, global warming, tourism, respect, honesty, and diversity. The threatened
counter-protest turned out no more than 25 people, the majority of which came down from
Pompano with the Rev. O’neal Dozier.
The mayor continues to use hate and stereotypes to attack the GLBT community. He is
finding himself further isolated and publicly scorned. The Broward County Commission
issued a strong rebuke of the mayor at their last meeting, calling his comments
"despicable" and "disgusting" (http://www.365gay.com/Newscon07/08/080807laud.htm).
They also removed him from the Tourism Development Council, thanks in large part to
Fight OUT Loud's urging and documentation (see press release).
Fight OUT Loud continues to fight against the mayor's hate-filled words and deeds,
including asking all advertisers for WFTL and “The Mitch and Morely Show” to reconsider
their ad placement on the station after the announcement was made that Jim Naugle will
co-host on Friday, Aug 10th (see press release).
| Updates |
| Gay American Heroes Foundation |
After much outcry from around the country, the City of Fort Lauderdale has removed the
“Focus on Fort Lauderdale” newsletter with Mayor Jim Naugle’s bigoted message against
the LGBT community from the city’s website. The city also decided that the mayor's
column in Fort Lauderdale's bi-monthly publication will be permanently removed, giving
Naugle one less platform from which to spew hate. A special thanks to Commissioners
Hutchinson and Moore for standing up for the respect and equality of all residents.
This shows the power and influence of a united LGBTcommunity. Fight OUT Loud issued
an Action Alert to its over 20,000 members, many who have written in to express their
outrage over this. Great sites like The Bilerico Project and Pam’s House Blend helped
get the word out about the call to action and within 1 day the offensive language was
removed from the city website and Naugle’s message were removed from future
publications.
Thank you to everyone who wrote, called, and stood up against the spread of anti-gay
rhetoric at the expense of Fort Lauderdale tax-payers. Your voice was heard. Never
again will our community sit by and let dangerous, violence inducing language go
unanswered.
“Focus on Fort Lauderdale” newsletter with Mayor Jim Naugle’s bigoted message against
the LGBT community from the city’s website. The city also decided that the mayor's
column in Fort Lauderdale's bi-monthly publication will be permanently removed, giving
Naugle one less platform from which to spew hate. A special thanks to Commissioners
Hutchinson and Moore for standing up for the respect and equality of all residents.
This shows the power and influence of a united LGBTcommunity. Fight OUT Loud issued
an Action Alert to its over 20,000 members, many who have written in to express their
outrage over this. Great sites like The Bilerico Project and Pam’s House Blend helped
get the word out about the call to action and within 1 day the offensive language was
removed from the city website and Naugle’s message were removed from future
publications.
Thank you to everyone who wrote, called, and stood up against the spread of anti-gay
rhetoric at the expense of Fort Lauderdale tax-payers. Your voice was heard. Never
again will our community sit by and let dangerous, violence inducing language go
unanswered.