I reported this morning that the American Family Association was attacking ten year-old Will Phillips, who is set to grand marshal Fayetteville’s pride parade this weekend, and who you all know as the kid who refused to say the Pledge of Allegiance in solidarity with his LGBT brothers and sisters who don’t yet have full “liberty and justice for all.” The AFA sent out an e-mail blast to their followers encouraging them to bark and stew at the Fayetteville mayor’s office to pressure them to cancel the celebration/rescind their proclamation of support. Fayetteville wasn’t having any of it:
According to city officials, the pride parade planned for this weekend will not be rained on.
Despite receiving over 300 emails Wednesday afternoon urging Mayor Lioneld Jordan to withdraw the city’ support for the parade and other festivities including a mayoral proclamation, Fayetteville Communication Director Lindsley Smith said Saturday’ activities will go on as scheduled.
“The Mayor is still excited,” said Smith. “Everything’ still on.”
Most of the messages included identical body copy which came pre-loaded in an online action form set up by the American Family Association. Nearly all of them began with the statement, “I am shocked to learn that the city of Fayetteville is issuing a proclamation in support of the homosexual activist group, Northwest Arkansas Pride.”
Smith said the majority of the emails were from non-Fayetteville residents.
I’d say your movement is on its last legs when a city of under 75,000 in the state of Arkansas is openly telling the American Family Association to get bent.
Go Fayetteville! I never thought I’d praise someplace in Arkansas!
YAY Fayetteville Arkansas!!!!
Yes, way to go Fayetteville!
God bless, Fayetteville!
What an uplifting story. Fabulous!
I love my city, and I’m so proud to be a part of this!
Camille, I love Fayetteville too. Haven’t been there in ages, but that’s a great part of Arkansas.
So proud to be a resident of Fayetteville, city with a backbone! Hoping in my lifetime we’ll see LOVE & ACCEPTANCE triumph over fear and hate…Fayetteville is taking this one small step in the right direction. AFA has NO PLACE in our wondefully diverse society…hoping they’ll go back under the rock from whence they came to complete the evolution process.
We are FOOLS to believe that one, two or three isolated “victories” or stances in any way makes The South a home where we can freely live our lives and conduct our relationships in openness and equality. Perhaps, in so much, such a belief is dangerous. Why do we live where we’re not wanted by the vast majority, where religion controls the weak-minded as weapons of the Theocratic agenda? Think of the entire State of Texas with Equal Marriage in mind. Yet, Austin and Dallas have thousands, if not millions of gay and lesbian people. Why? What will they ever acheive in such a red, repressive State? The election of a lesbian? Yippie. What does that change for the State? NOTHING! But if those same people were to move to California, Oregon, Washington, New York, Pennsylvania–to a State where EQUALITY IS POSSIBLE…we could win this war!! Why do I care? Because my life is directly affected by every loss we suffer. My life is directly affect, in Florida, by the ban on gay marriage in California.
It’s long been the case that catty behavior between gay men is acceptable, even to the point of making a person an outcast. We are our own worst enemies. Until we understand the seed and womb of brotherhood and sisterhood, we shall continue to fail, in Maine, in California, in Oregon.
I’m packing my happy a*s up and moving to Oregon so that I CAN have a voice. Florida is a loss. Strike it up on the board as a total loss. Why do we move to Ft. Lauderdale when we’ll NEVER have victory at the State level? Because we don’t understand how our lives are interconnected. That’s why.
A color can be mixed with white and flavor the entire mix to a beautiful hue, a pastel of loveliness and glory. But, you can’t mix anything with black and change it from being black. All you can ever hope for is a lifeless shade. That’s why we have. White in areas where we can win and black in areas where we cannot. Those of us who stay in the darkness life only a lifeless shade of gray compared to what we could be…what we could have…together. United. FOR one another.
Merrel said “We are our own worst enemies. Until we understand the seed and womb of brotherhood and sisterhood, we shall continue to fail, in Maine, in California, in Oregon.”.
You certainly are an enemy of a part of the LGBT community and you certainly fail to understand the brotherhood and sisterhood of LGBTs such as effeminate gays and trans-people.
Dude, I live in the South. Happy as a clam. We’re not all victims.
Merrell, if I can’t dance at your revolution I don’t want to come. Also, if there aren’t any drag queens, transexuals or nellie men at your revolution I also don’t want to come.
Good for them. It’s nice to see someone stand up to the AFA and their astroturfing campaigns.
“We are FOOLS to believe that one, two or three isolated “victories” or stances in any way makes The South a home where we can freely live our lives and conduct our relationships in openness and equality. ”
Who said anything of the sort? What I heard was happiness that this particular situation played out this way. It’s a good thing. Umm… duh?
But by all means move to Oregon. Pack warm clothes.
God only loves his Elect, the sheep; not the goats. You people have set your hearts on iniquity which leads you on the crooked path to where the worm diest not and the fire is not quenched Isaiah 66. Repent or the oil will keep flowing like your sin.
OH, you must be talking about that Cake song!
LOL
Son of darkness any act which harms no one is not iniquity. Your oppression of those who harm no one is iniquity. Repent of your evil ways.
Oh, I’m seeing the error of my ways now. When I first posted to this website, I was under the impression that it had more than fifteen readers and contributors. But, I keep seeing the same, tired, lame attackers over and over. It’s more like a clique than something serious such as giveadamn.org or HRC.org. Well, sorry to bump into your little party of misfits. You won’t miss me and, I most certain have already forgotten you.
Bye Merrell.
Well, Merrell, you’ve already abandoned a whole population of you gay brothers to your misogyny (still no complaints about masculine women and trans men, I guess), so no surprise that you’d abandon a whole state of them. If we’re ‘cliquish’ for having no tolerance for intolerance, then I guess that’s that.
I’m in Florida, too, and it’s not my favorite place (for reasons that don’t involve the conservative atmosphere), but if we all up and leave in the wake of the Religious Right, there’d be no one left to fight for those LGBT people who can’t leave.
Drama!
It’s funny, also, because often when Truth Wins Out does big projects, our name is on the sponsorship list alongside HRC, GLAAD, etc. They must want to reach our fifteen readers!
How ironic that Merrell should call cliquish the people who consider all parts of the LGBT spectrum their community when it is he who wishes to exclude all except macho gays.
Evan, y’all do a bunch of moving around and showing up on TV for a little pipsqueak internet group with less readers than a teenager’s Livejournal. ;) Where do y’all get the money for that?
Merrell, don’t go away mad, just go away.
“Evan, y’all do a bunch of moving around and showing up on TV for a little pipsqueak internet group with less readers than a teenager’ Livejournal. ;) Where do y’all get the money for that?”
Secret gay slush fund.
;-)
Dear Son of the Light:
Take your religion and shove it up your a*s, then crawl back under that 5000 year old rock from whence you came. Be gone, you have no power here.
God only loves his Elect, the sheep; not the goats.
You might want to reread that parable you’re referencing again. The Master did not separate the sheep and goats based on who they were sleeping with. So, how many naked people have you given clothes to today? Have you let many homeless people sleep on your couch lately? ;)