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Gay Pride Policy Prompts Discrimination, Free-Speech ConcernsAt the same time that the Hillsborough County, Florida, attorney claimed that the county commission’s controversial decision to refrain from promoting gay pride events was not a free-speech issue, County Commissioner Ronda Storms was objecting to a flyer distributed recently at a local library’s gay pride exhibit.The flyer on “Lesbian and Gay Support Groups”—offered at the West Gate Regional Library in Tampa for a few days until the display was removed after the June 15 vote—included contact information for local and national groups that advocate for young people who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or questioning. “In my opinion, it engages Hillsborough County in very high-risk behavior, not to mention encouraging children to engage in very high-risk behavior,” Storms said in the June 25 Tampa Tribune. After a gay man later filed a discrimination complaint, County Attorney Renee Lee said in the June 29 Miami Herald that she doubted the policy could be construed as unconstitutional because it did not impinge on an individual’s freedom of speech. “Is this policy discriminatory? Yes, I think you can make the argument that it is,” Lee said. “But the board has the broad discretion to be discriminatory in how it spends its money. It can say we’re not going to spend it on gay pride events.” Some 2,000 people marched in a “Pride Is Back” rally June 26 that went from the Tampa–Hillsborough County Public Library’s John F. Germany branch to Courthouse Square in downtown Tampa. Organized by Equality Florida, a gay-rights group in St. Petersburg, the marchers included Candace Gingrich, the lesbian half-sister of former U.S. Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich, according to the June 27 St. Petersburg Times. The St. Petersburg branch of the NAACP issued a statement June 24 that supported the Equality Florida group. “We want you to know that we stand with you in your courageous fight against bigotry and prejudice,” it read. Storms and Commissioner Tom Scott, who is black, have stated that gay rights and civil rights are not the same, the Tribune reported June 25. Posted July 1, 2005. |
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