Photo credit: City of St. Augustine
NO PLACE FOR HATE -- Kobe Bryant Fine Brings Focus on Homophobia and Racism
Kobe Bryant was fined $100,000 by NBA for calling a referee a “f------ f------“.
Ironically, Kobe Bryant’s hateful remarks were the same day as NBA’s anti-homophobia Public Service Announcement.
The $100,000 NBA fine is righteous.
Homophobia is wrong.
Homophobia is as bad as racism.
Melvin Boozer, III was a Gay African-American man who was a delegate to the 1976 Democratic National Convention – the first openly Gay person ever to speak at a national political party convention. Melvin Boozer III told Democratic delegates from the podium “I’ve been called ‘n-----‘ and I’ve been called ‘f-----‘ and I can tell you what the difference is – NONE.”
Like racism, homophobia is a form of mental illness (and a social disease).
Here in St. Augustine, homophobia is on the decline.
Here in St. Augustine, racism is on the decline.
Once upon a time, Gay and Lesbian people were insulted by our City Commissioners, forcing us to go to federal court, where United States District Judge Henry Lee Adams, Jr. ordered the Rainbow Flags to fly from June 7-13, 2005.
Our First Amendment, in its majesty, triumphed. So did respect for Gay equality.
Dawn on June 8, 2005 came with 42 Rainbow Flags on our Bridge of Lions (and seven along the Bayfront), honoring St. Augustine’s GLBT people and their contributions to St. Augustine’s history.
The Rainbow Flags Case showed our community that GLBT people are everywhere.
While there are still KKK-style hate websites spewing vile homophobia on the Internet, their operator has no credibility (MICHAEL GOLD f/k/a “MICHAEL TOBIN” d/b/a “HISTORIC CITY COMPANIES” and “HISTORIC CITY MEDIA” and “HISTORIC CITY NEWS” and shamefulpeople.com and plazabum.com).
Pray for MICHAEL GOLD and his NICS and handful of backers to stop spewing vile hatred on the Internet – including hate speech directed at Andrew Young.
Atlanta was once called “the city too busy to hate.”
Let’s call St. Augustine “No Place for Hate,” borrowing the name of the ADL’s anti-hate campaign.
Let’s call on hate site operators to practice love, not hate, toward their fellow citizens.
Let’s adopt a human rights ordinance protecting GLBT people from discrimination.
Let’s follow in the footsteps of the Anastasia Mosquito Control Commission of St. Johns County, the first government agency in our region to adopt such a nondiscrimination policy (similar to those in hundreds of jurisdictions, which have adopted such laws and rules since February 1989, when in Denver the prestigious American Bar Association House of Delegates adopted our Individual Rights and Responsibilities Section’s resolution calling for nondiscrimination on the basis of sexual orientation in employment, housing and public accommodations).
I was proud to be in Denver at the ABA House of Delegates that day, helping then-DOL Chief Judge Nahum Litt and other members of the ABA House of Delegates and staff to craft a floor amendment that carried the day.
I am prouder still to live in St. Augustine today -- where we will dedicate commencement of work on a new Riberia Street on April 18, the Footsoldiers Civil Rights Monument on our Slave Market Square on May 14 and the Andrew Young Crossing Memorial on June 11, 2011.
Our community is uniting behind the able leadership of City Manager John Regan, Mayor Joe Boles, Vice Mayor Leeana Freeman and Commissioners Errol Jones, Nancy-Sikes-Kline and William Leary.
We're looking forward to the National Civil Rights Museum and St. Augustine National Historical Park, Seashore and Scenic Coastal Parkway Act. www.staugustgreen.com
Keep hope alive!
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