Fort Lauderdale's Mayor Naugle spews homo-hate on taxpayers' dime

...glad to see this up.

Waymon/Fight Out Loud/HomoPolitico had this up today too.  And I believe he lives there. Hope there are Florida people who will write in. 

S4E from California 

It's the Hammer of JUSTICE,
It's the Bell of FREEDOM,
It's the Song about LOVE between,
my Brothers and my Sisters
...All over this Land.

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by: Orion45 @ Mon Mar 03, 2008 at 23:32:24 PM CST

It looks like this asshole will never learn.

I hope he gets voted out next time he's up for election.  As an aside though, I wish gay men would stop persisting in using public parks for cruising and anonymous sex.  It's an abuse of the purpose of having such parks, and it absolutely terrible PR for the entire community.

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by: onthesea @ Mon Mar 03, 2008 at 23:35:29 PM CST

Where else can they go?

Straight people have lots of bars and clubs for cruising and sex, and they have less need for anonymity than a bi-curious man. One stat I heard quoted on Australian tv was that 30% of Australian men had at least one same-sex sexual experience. I'll bet a lot of those were in public parks etc. If society provided purpose built places for such activity then it would be so accepting of homosexuality that there would be no need for the anonymity hence no need for the purpose built space for it and around in a circle.

Straight people use the nearest public park to me all the time too, they just pick their partner up elsewhere and arrive at the park in pairs (I know this because one of my straight friends is one of the people who does this).

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by: battybattybats @ Tue Mar 04, 2008 at 07:02:23 AM CST

[ Parent ]

Yes but I live in San Diego

Hillcrest actually, which is the gayborhood.  There is plenty of opportunity to "go" lot's of places, and there are still guys screwing in the parks anyway.  I understand what you're saying, but I do think gay men have to act a little more responsibly as members of a community.  I'm no prude, but I would like to be able to have a picnic or go to the beach without guys screwing in the bushes.  Yes straight people do it too, but it's gay guys that are overwhelmingly the culprits.  Now it's not like I think it's evil, just tacky.

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by: onthesea @ Wed Mar 05, 2008 at 02:32:06 AM CST

[ Parent ]

e-mail sent to folks in Ft. Lauderdale

 A copy of the e-mail sent to folks in Ft. Lauderdale:

"Please do not worry, we will never come to your fair city.  We will never vacation anywhere near your town.

We will tell everyone we know not to go there.

After all, we are two older women who live together.  I'm almost 69 and my partner will soon be 61.  I'm sure that we would not be welcome in Ft. Lauderdale  --  some folks might think we're ***lesbians***  --  and, as you know, your fair city does not welcome folks like us  --  except to bash, injure, maim, or kill.

Not what I would call a "family friendly" place, not when being THOUGHT to be someone "different" can lead to an attack.  Not a place to visit.

So, don't worry, we will never visit, spend a nickle, in your town.  In addition, we will attempt to boycott all products of Ft. Lauderdale, if not all of Florida.

I live in Dallas, Tx.  --  and feel a heck of a lot safer here.

                                         Tina Sokol

PS - Don't y'all remember the Florida Orange Juice boycott?  Don't y'all remember how happy it made you that no nasty gay folks drank of your wonderful healthful juice?  Remember how much money it cost y'all?  You don't want us  --  and thats fine.  Why should we support you?"
 

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by: tsokol1 @ Tue Mar 04, 2008 at 00:35:28 AM CST

Fort Lauderdale is a great place for this lesbian couple to live

I'm sure that we would not be welcome in Ft. Lauderdale  --  some folks might think we're ***lesbians***  --  and, as you know, your fair city does not welcome folks like us  --  except to bash, injure, maim, or kill.

Not what I would call a "family friendly" place, not when being THOUGHT to be someone "different" can lead to an attack.  Not a place to visit.

Tina, you and your partner would be very welcome in Fort Lauderdale, which for the most part is extremely gay friendly. Although we have a few bible beaters and an asswipe for mayor my partner and I have lived here for decades and have no problems. We live openly at home, with our families, at work and in the big community and are as accepted as any other couple is. Presently we live just a few miles west of Fort Lauderdale in a growing town that has 2 lesbian bars within 10 minutes of home. When my partner has been hospitalized or in the ER (in multiple Fort Lauderdale hospitals) we let them know we are domestic partners and they treat us the same as they treat opposite sex couples.

Although we have had 2 hate crimes recently Fort Lauderdale is certainly not the only city where these terrible incidents have happened. They have occurred in many other cities and towns across America and the world.  


You can lead a fool to knowledge, but you can't make him think.  

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by: Dianne @ Tue Mar 04, 2008 at 08:11:08 AM CST

[ Parent ]

Looks to me like Naugle thinks he's getting results...

...with the recent attacks.  So, he's ratcheting it up a notch to see if he can create even more carnage.  Here you have a hominid (I refuse to call it a human) who has no concept of basic humanity, just a brute desire to harm the 'other'.

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by: Storm @ Tue Mar 04, 2008 at 03:04:47 AM CST

Given the history of the loudest bigots, anyone know who the Mayor is in

the closet with?  Be nice to see another public outing soon.  True karma would have him getting busted in one of the parks as he's soliciting.

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by: ScottNC @ Tue Mar 04, 2008 at 05:58:17 AM CST

[ Parent ]

Florida

My partner and I have vacationed from time to time in Ft. Lauderdale.  This time a realtor called and said she had a apartment available in a building we have been looking at.  I said forget it, we are not moving to the "city of hate!"

She wrote back and said it was not like that, that no one pays attention to the mayor.  Apparently, that is incorrect!  We are never going back......love the beaches and all inclusive, fortress-like gay resorts but once you step out, there is an uncertainty in the air.  We never feel safe and comfortable.  We are way more protected in our home-town of Chapel Hill, NC.

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by: paulko @ Tue Mar 04, 2008 at 07:46:04 AM CST

Don't stay away

from one of the most beautiful cities in the country because of one bad apple. I live in Wilton Manors (which is IN Ft. Lauderdale), and the gay friendliest place in the world. The mayor is a jerk and everyone knows it. Boycotting us in not the answer. Keep coming here folks, we'll just outnumber em;) There's NOTHING to fear.

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by: hank @ Tue Mar 04, 2008 at 08:04:47 AM CST

If he's a jerk,

an asswipe and the like, can someone from Ft. Lauderdale please explain how Naugle was elected in the first place? and, besides the CVB which took him off their board, who exactly is standing up against him, and planning the electoral removal of Naugle from office? Has the county Democratic party been forced to at gunpoint to give support to this man, or aren't LGTB and straight allies powerful enough within the party?

If nobody is acting against him, or even if somebody is acting against him but not getting results, then until this supposed anomaly is eliminated from public office in the supposed tolerant, gay affirming city of Ft. Lauderdale, the boycott sounds like a reasonable approach.

As a resident of Washington DC for the past several years, I have maintained a private boycott against giving my sales tax dollars to the oppressive state of Virginia. I know, there are plenty of gays and lesbians living happily coupled, out lives in the northern Wash DC suburbs, but until Virginia's anti-gay laws is removed, I see no reason to subsidize the discriminatory choices of its legislators and the majority of its citizens.

If the LGBT and straight allies in Ft. Lauderdale don't want to face a boycott, the onus is on them to get their Naugle problem resolved.

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by: mitch wood @ Tue Mar 04, 2008 at 10:15:08 AM CST

Im not gonna go to Florida...

I sent this email to all the people stated....in the Ft.L...city gov't....

I am extremely concerned as a Tax paying American Citizen and a 47yr old gay man....about the On-Going Bigoted Propaganda coming from, and spewing from your Mayor USING TAX dollars to spread his Blatant bigotry/Fear against the LGBT community. His Rhetoric and Fear tactics have done nothing but give Ft. Lauderdale a "Black eye" and undoubtly recent ATTACKS of Hate Crimes againast LGBT citizens in Ft. Lauderdale.and Florida in general.  As far as choosing your area for a viable vacation spot, I choose NOT too visit your area/state.  I live in S.NJ...and this past Christmas my partner....got us a Vacation....we had 3 choices....Europe,Cancun or Ft Lauderdale Florida....I told him as far as Europe (too expensive now), and as far as Fla/Ft lauderdale NO WAY..between the Hateful rhetoric from Mayor Naugle's constant ATTACKS against Tax paying,gay and lesbians and thier families & the Right Wing's attempt to enshrine Discrimination in your states Constitution...I honestly don't think I'll ever be going to Florida again...your state will be added to my LONG list of states in America to avoid. Thank you for your time.

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by: rextrek @ Tue Mar 04, 2008 at 11:07:14 AM CST

Message is gone

I tried to access the asswipe's message from multiple sites, including Fort Lauderdale's website, and there is a "page cannot be found" error message.

Please continue to email our commissioners and tourism board. The more tourist dollars they think Fort Lauderdale is going to lose the faster they may kick this b*tch to the curb.

You can lead a fool to knowledge, but you can't make him think.  

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by: Dianne @ Tue Mar 04, 2008 at 12:09:29 PM CST

Naugle UPDATE

Thanks to everyone for writing in to support your South Florida LGBT brothers and sisters!

The city has removed the newsletter from the website. The commission voted today to take away his "message from the mayor" column in newsletters because of his abuse of it to promote hate.  It will now be a generic statement from the entire commission.

The quick response of the city has truly shown the unity of the South Florida LGBT community, and our support from around the country.  

Naugle is term-limited out next March, so a recall is not a viable option as it takes months and lots of money to make happen.  Our community is putting forward a record number of LGBT candidates for all offices here to help repair the damage he has done in the next election cycle.

A special thanks to Pam again for helping us get the word out and to all of you for writing in to support us.

The South Florida LGBT community is more unified than ever and will never let these types of acts go unanswered again!  We will continue to stand up, get involved, and be heard.

Waymon Hudson
-President of Fight OUT Loud

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by: waymonhudson @ Tue Mar 04, 2008 at 23:56:35 PM CST

glad to hear sanity prevailed

That this newsletter was used by Naugle as a platform for his bigotry, given his record, is a problem. Those things don't go to press without a lot of eyes on it, and it managed to get out to people.

I'm glad that there was a quick response, but someone needs to be held accountable for not using editorial care with this particular mayor's "messages" to the people.

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by: Pam Spaulding @ Wed Mar 05, 2008 at 08:11:06 AM CST

[ Parent ]

I agree...

We are still putting pressure on the city to investigate how this message made it in the newsletter in the first place.  We are glad it is down from the website, but it is still in the homes of everyone in Fort Lauderdale.  Our community is not standing for this and will continue to fight.

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by: waymonhudson @ Wed Mar 05, 2008 at 16:47:24 PM CST

[ Parent ]

LBGT Fantasy thinking

"His own police department said that restroom sex was not a problem in the area. Furthermore, most of the men cruising restrooms for sex are not gay-identified -- they are men who are having sex with men but consider themselves heterosexual."

And McKane is a democrat.

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by: Persiphone @ Wed Mar 05, 2008 at 15:50:26 PM CST

Fantasy perhaps, but LBGT fantasy?

What the police department says is what the police department says, not LBGT fantasy thinking.

What people who call themselves heterosexual consider themselves, is what people who call themselves heterosexual consider themselves, not LGBT fantasy thinking.

Sure the 30% of australian men who've had at least one same-sex encounter means there is a much larger bi population than most people imagine.

But your criticism of LBGT thinking is a little off as they aren't the bi guys calling themselves straight or the police department.

If you intend to criticise others maybe check your aim a little before letting fly.

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by: battybattybats @ Thu Mar 06, 2008 at 08:21:23 AM CST

[ Parent ]