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.
Sodomy MUST be celebrated. FORCED celebration of perversion is the new normal. A spiritual awakening is required.
They should be proud.
After all, they’ve cleverly figured out how to use their Obamahole for two (count em...TWO) purposes.
Now, that’s conservation.
So the BLTGQVZ crowd is upset that sex dungeon tradeshows have skipped their burg?
Sieg heil!!
“We just want to be left alone.” Remember?
No one is allowed to remember this. It’s like a Democratic campaign promise, plenty of which had to do with now-taboo topics like the defense of marriage.
Homosexuals 1973: “We just want the government to stay out of our bedrooms.”
Homosexuals 2013: “It’s the duty of the government to use tax money to sponsor and promote our obsession with sexual perversion.”
Well, there you go.
For the queers, it's all about money.
For cities, it's all about perception... and money.
Camel’s nose in the tent. This is how it always works with every agenda the Left pushes.
Refer the tolerant, self-promoting county commissioners to the videos of San Francisco’s Folsom Street Fair to get a taste of what their in for (admittedly a questionable choice of words to use in this context).
oops ... “they’re”, not “their” — YIKES!
Tampa has been a gay bastion for a long time. I’m surprised it took them so long.
Not openly. The black and Hispanic communities in Tampa proper are much bigger and stronger than the gays. I spoke with a Cuban co-worker who said he’s absolutely disgusted. This might not end well.
Sodomy is something to take pride in? “Hey, everybody, I stick my.....in his...!!!”
Perverts win another round in the war for America’s soul.
Most of them migrated to Orlando in the 90s after they passed the gay pride ban. I’ve lived here over 30 years, and I can say that Tampa has grown as an international trade hub due to our diversity but NOT due to our celebration of sodomy. That’s about to change, apparently.
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