Posted on 06/05/2013 10:06:20 AM PDT by rarestia
Supporting gay pride events has been banned by the Hillsborough County government for several years, but that is about to change.
On Wednesday, the Hillsborough County Commission voted 7-0 to eliminate the ban.
For eight years, the local gay community has been blocked out of official recognition by the commission. Some say the county's policy on LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) events has cost the county conventions and new business.
In a 2005 meeting, commissioners, led by Ronda Storms, voted 5-to-1 to not support, promote or participate in gay pride events. Since then, Commissioner Kevin Beckner says the county has had a black eye with the LGBT community and those who support it.
Now, as the county aims to rebrand itself, Beckner said it is time to repeal the ban.
"(It's) blatantly a discriminatory police that discriminates against the LGBT community and our citizens," Beckner said.
Overturning the ban will require a supermajority, meaning Beckner will need yes votes from a majority of the commissioners - plus one.
Meanwhile, there are opponents to a repeal.
"It is not about equal rights, it is about special rights for one specific group of people based on who they choose as sexual partners," said Terry Kemple of the Community Issues Council. "I don't think the county should be in the business of supporting special interests of that type."
Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn supports the repeal, telling commissioners in a letter the issue is partly about business.
"Rightly or wrongly, symbols matter and if we are perceived as community that is not welcoming or a city where the value of some is not the same as others, we will be far less competitive," Buckhorn said in the letter.
Hundreds of people on both sides of the issue attended the hearing today.
That’s pretty much what it’s come down to. Even a local morning show, syndicated in markets across the country, is use “Pro-Homo” as a meme for their show. I’m disgusted by this. They say, “We should have the same RIGHTS as heterosexuals.”
My contention is, we are not prohibiting you from associating with other sodomites. We are upholding the institute of marriage as a binding of heterosexuals for the purpose of procreation.
They are promoting a lifestyle wherein two incompatible human body parts are intermingled PURELY FOR PLEASURE. This has NOTHING to do with marriage and EVERYTHING to do with promotion of perversion in the name of hedonism. I’m sick of it.
Oh good!/s Charlie Crist can go home now!
When New Orleans decided to make the Gay Mardigras an officially-sponsored city event, it experienced year after year of destructive storms coinciding with this event (usually around Labor Day).
Gee... thanks for the well wishes there, unlearner. We’re definitely DUE for some strong storms, it’s been at least 25 years since anything significant hit us here on the west coast of Florida, but a Cat5 would be devastating to the region.
Sorry. A family member recently accused me of wishing for God to “smite” people. Maybe I have a negative predisposition.
Regardless, if a city or nation makes this choice, it might be a good time to look at the possibility of leaving. That may not always be possible or even the right decision for everyone, but if you know disaster is coming then why wait for it to strike?
Pray that your leaders make wise choices. If not, pray that you and your family escape the consequences which are not of your doing.
I am not personally a denizen of Tampa nor any of its suburbs. I live in Pinellas county and live in an unincorporated city that answers to none of the local larger committees. I know many of my neighbors, good, God fearing people who’ve lived here for the better part of 50 years, and we not only want to be a part of this charade, we are active in the adjacent townships to educate the people there about Agenda 21, among other abominations.
I had the ‘pleasure’ of commuting through Tampa years ago, and I don’t miss it for a second. I’m content in my sleepy town and won’t take part nor give any of my money to this sodomite circus.
The sad thing is that it’s getting more and more difficult to escape. It’s friggin’ everywhere at this point, the main exception being small town America. A damn shame.
I guess my main sentiment in this post is that there are some places to live that would be really nice if this, hmm.., fecal cultural degradation weren’t ever-present. How far do we have to go until we reach The Point where normal people have had enough? My big fear is that the homo-enablers are going to eventually outnumber us normal folks. We’d have even fewer communities to retreat to. And what happens if our lovely high court decides to write gay marriage into the Constitution later this month? Does that speed things up? Does it legitimize the homos in the eyes of the low-info voting public? The thought makes me sick.
Pardon my ranting. And God forgive me for daydreaming about it all crumbling down.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.