Anti-gay Mayor Jim “$250K robo-potty” Naugle has so polarized matters in Fort Lauderdale that press conferences and demonstrations are getting tense, according to Jeff Black of UNITE Fort Lauderdale, which sponsored a Faith Press Conference the other day, featured speakers from many denominations and religions to discuss unity, inclusiveness, and acceptance.
Inclusiveness was not on the agenda on Tuesday as members of homophobic black churches, stood with Mayor Naugle at City Hall preaching they are going to take back the city, removing the sin and sinners. Religious men — in paramilitary gear — were also standing aside the mayor bleating that “the depth of sexual sin in Broward County necessitates an old-fashioned spiritual revival.” From Jeff’s email to me:
They escorted me from the front door to the elevator when I entered the building today for this press conference, and stood ‘post’ at the elevator lobby. The video is frightening, worse was I was standing in the room with these people and worried what was going to happened next.From the Sun-Sentinel article on the press conference.
UNITE Fort Lauderdale hasn’t heard of Naugle’s new friends from Koinonia Worship Center before, so Jeff Black tried to find out more about it. From the rest of his letter:Elder Mathes Guice of the Koinonia Worship Center in Pembroke Park said the county tourist council’s targeted marketing to gay visitors “led the spiritual community on a collision course with Satan.'’ He said “we have no other choice but to step up and do the right thing’‘ by holding the revival.
“We love the homosexual people,'’ said the Rev. O’Neal Dozier of Pompano Beach. “We find them to be precious people. We want them saved.'’
One clergyman was not impressed.
“I’m going to be ill if we don’t get out of here soon,'’ said Archbishop Bruce Simpson, who traveled from Pennsylvania to talk about the mayor at a news conference scheduled Wednesday evening at City Hall. Simpson is the author of “The Gay Face of God.'’
As an organizer of the Unity Press Conference and Prayer Vigil, representing inclusive faiths, I spoke with Major Carter of the FLDP last night and after Mayor Naugle paraded this new group out in front of the Mayor’s offices and lobby. Major Carter was concerned and is now increasing the police presence at the gathering of clergy at 5:15 this evening.The audio on the page sounds like a lot of bloviating hot air to me, but why on earth is Naugle associating with fringe churches like this? What a PR nightmare for Fort Lauderdale. The local Tourism Board, which booted Naugle from its board for his unyielding, loony vitriol toward the gay community, has to be roiling as the situation continues to unravel before the media.I’ve never heard to this group before, the ones in military dress. They concern me a great deal. When I entered City Hall yesterday evening to observe the press conference the Mayor had called with them. Two of them escorted me from the front doors on the north side of the building to the elevators and then stood and took up ‘posts’ in the elevator lobby.
I tried to find out information on the group but was only able to find a MySpace profile which included an audio track. The audio track is of a military leader talking to a subordinate and explaining how they are in the battle to take back what they have lost for the black man while in the background you hear gun fire and battle sounds.
Koinonia Worship Center in Pembroke Park: Myspace profile page with audio.
What I’m hearing on this page is scary. “Special OPS (operations) Units” of the church. References to “Exercising Spiritual Authority”?
Related:
* Attack of the Naugleites
* Blender’s letter to Fort Lauderdale City Commission about Naugle
* Robo-potty Naugle: “I have longtime friends in the homosexual community.”
* Letter from the Fort Lauderdale CVB disowning Naugle
* Shock jock robo-potty Mayor Naugle torched by FL newspaper editorial
* Images of beach restroom sex vex Ft. Lauderdale mayor, calls for robojohns
* Naugle: is he looking to keep the straight men out of the potty?
* Flushing Naugle
* The ‘Flush Naugle’ campaign escalates
* Fundie defends homophobic robo-potty mayor Naugle
* Pro-diversity rally in Ft. Lauderdale today to counter the $250K robo-potty mayor.
21 Responses to “Things are getting tense in Fort Lauderdale”
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8 arrests in Fort Lauderdale since 2005. This is not the epidemic that Naugle claims. The man is killing tourism in Broward County. Fortunatly, he was kicked off the tourism board.
Wow, they’ve really got a kind of Hamas thing going on with those fatigues.
The mp3 on that Myspace page is more cringeworthy than frightening.
Well, Plantsman, that’s the problem with gibbering, objectively bat-shit insane fascism. It all just looks like a bunch of feckless dorks in silly uniforms with nothing better to do with their time but hassle the normals, right up until the point where they take over the country and chuck all the undesirables into the 24-hour crematoria.
Holy crap, talk about religious militants. Any sane person would run screaming.
Curious (seriously): does Pandagon also go after, with equal vigor, homophobic and misogynistic rap culture, which is far more influential than some religious zealots in Florida?
And why was it necessary to point out that these homophobic churches were black, in bold no less? Do you mention the color of all homophobic churches or just the black ones?
Miller, Pam, the woman who posted this, is black. She is concerned because it is HER community, and the anti-gay bigotry is so strong these churches often ally with politicians who are either directly racist or hurt the constituents of the churches with classism. Most white bloggers don’t want to dig into the difficult melding of religious identity, sexual identity, race identity and social identity. She talks about it as a racial issue because she is qualified to talk about those aspects of it, and it is important for someone to talk about it.
The audio on the page sounds like a lot of bloviating hot air to me, but why on earth is Naugle associating with fringe churches like this?
It’s all speculation, of course, but Naugle is known for being a conservative “christian” personally, so extending himself to the few groups who are still supporting him at this point isn’t all that surprising to those of us who live down here. It’s just the next step. There’s also the possibility that Naugle is trying to use this controversy as the bridge to whatever he plans once his term is up, whether that’s another office, running in a wingnut district, or a radio show or what. I lean toward the former, largely because he’s got the impromptu speaking ability of a…well, it’s too early for me to come up with a proper metaphor.
My co-bloggers and I have probably written more on this than is healthy, since we all live in the general area, so if anyone wants a rundown, there it is.
As a resident of Fort Lauderdale, I can tell you that the overwhelming majority of us are embarrassed as fuck to have this homophobic, ignorant ass as a mayor.
Hopefully, he’ll be gone in the next election and we can get on with being the accepting city that we’ve been known for.
Religious men in paramilitary gear”?
Is anyone else thinking Handmaid’s Tale?
Curious (seriously): does Pandagon also go after, with equal vigor, homophobic and misogynistic rap culture, which is far more influential than some religious zealots in Florida?
If you were a regular reader, you’d know that I do:
* Russell Simmons calls for ‘clean up’ of hip-hop
* Discussing racism and misogyny - one step forward, two steps back, and a lot of pointing fingers
* Had enough: advocate speaks out against hip-hop violence, misogyny
And why was it necessary to point out that these homophobic churches were black, in bold no less? Do you mention the color of all homophobic churches or just the black ones?
As Samantha said in comment#7, I am black, and I am dismayed that my own community, one that has been on the receiving end of violence, discrimination and bigotry for so long, could roll out such consistently homophobic vitriol in the name of God.
Wasn’t there a list of things that progressives condemn, one that people could link to when somebody says, “oh, you complain about this but what about the [whatever]?”
It must be very empowering to hate a minority. Funny thing is, I recall that, among the arguments for slavery, was that they were helping the slaves. They were “civilizing” them and exposing them to a better life. “Why, if they were still in Africa, they’d be running around naked in the dirt. They’re better off as slaves.” And then there’s “We’re not denying them their civil rights; we’re saving them from Satan! We aren’t denying people their rights to live their lives as they choose; we’re saving them from Satan!”
Bunch of mutton heads. I suspect that, at the head of the whole thing, there’s a deliberate fraud, and he’s probably a closeted gay man, looking to make a buck and feel like a bigshot.
“And why was it necessary to point out that these homophobic churches were black, in bold no less? Do you mention the color of all homophobic churches or just the black ones?”
This is north america we are talking about … you never ever need to mention the skin colour of a white person. If i say “People who go to church are crazy” it’s automaticaly assumed that it’s a white church and the crazy people in it are white too, simply because i never said it wasn’t a white church.
The other thing is that white churches have been doing this kind of bullshit for years. And more specificaly white churches have used the exact same damn tactics against black people that black churches are now using against gay people (aka using the bible to explain their bigotry). So it makes all this religious insanity a little sadder than usual.
DeadMan
Hopefully, he’ll be gone in the next election and we can get on with being the accepting city that we’ve been known for.
He’s term-limited out, so he’s gone, and hopefully, this will be a higher-profile election next time around.
Ursula L:
The Handmaid’s Tale is the first, second, third, and last thing I think whenever I read about stuff like this.
This is cliche, but I really do think they read 1984, The Quiet American, Handmaid’s Tale, and The Stranger and decided to build their ideology from the worst abuses of human rights scattered therein.
This is one of the arguments against term limits. If they absolutely poistively know they can’t be ousted they are free to do all the things they were afraid to do before and damn the sane majority. That’s doubly true if you have no recall law like in my area. If they don’t commit a felony in office, you’re stuck with them.
Yet this appalling authoritarian visible “presence” was the external deterrent suggested in the Craig double standards thread. Supposedly it’s too much to expect voluntary respect for all-ages use of public spaces (restrooms, parks, etc.), and the the idea that toilet (or park) cupids not to subject non-consenting parties to participate in the traffic — against their will — is to stand in the way of “correcting” past injustice.
I don’t buy this line for a second. This transient traffic wants their cake and eat it too: anonymity and unrestrained freedom outside their own communities and others to deal with the consequences, whether they like it or not.
Sorry, even local gay-owned businesses (apart from hardcore clubs) don’t tolerate business-repelling raunch on their premises, esp. during prime summer hours. The genders and proclivities of the sexual menu involved has nothing to do with it, so the “What a world, what a world!” speech doesn’t wash.
(BTW, the Craig story stretches credulity by the day. With just over an hour between his flights, Craig’s pretense that he wasn’t soliciting sex in the restroom to have in the locale has stretched his tale beyond the widest limits of credulity.
The food court right across from the restroom would have been a more practical place for hooking up than peeping or other invasive action on locked bathroom stalls.)
Craig’s an imperious phony asshole who wants every shred of latitude he denies others. I’m sorry for his family. He and his cronies deserve every bit of discomfort they get out of this.
But Naugle and others just can’t frame it as simply a matter of convenience or respect for other patrons of the restroom. They must go to their cracker default mode of hating gays even if the only thing a gay person uses the restroom for is the usual stuff. Shades of Anita Bryant.
So… this creepy GI Joe Christian group suddenly pops up out of nowhere. Is it possible that they’re merely astroturf?
Although I admit, I can’t imagine why anyone would think they’d look more sane and reasoned by hanging out with a bunch of angry guys in paramilitary gear.