| Topic: |
Religions > Atheism |
| User: |
"maff" |
| Date: |
27 Feb 2005 05:11:05 AM |
| Object: |
A city's gays defy conservatives |
A city's gays defy conservatives
http://observer.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,6903,1426309,00.html
As the US religious right mobilises, gay activists plan a freedom zone
in its heartland. Paul Harris reports from Spokane, Washington state
Sunday February 27, 2005
The Observer
The Odyssey youth centre is hidden behind an unmarked door on an
anonymous site near downtown Spokane. Nothing betrays its purpose to
the outside world.
Inside, gay teenagers lounge on sofas, shoot pool, flirt and surf the
internet. Here, behind closed doors in the heart of conservative
'redder than red' America, they feel safer when hidden. 'One day I hope
that our youth don't have to come here in secret through the back
door,' said Laurel Kelly, Odyssey's executive director.
Paul Harris
http://groups-beta.google.com/group/alt.atheism/msg/4dbfd645ec08407
Washington State
http://groups-beta.google.com/group/alt.atheism/msg/54a504bced519f8a
Culture Wars
http://groups-beta.google.com/group/alt.atheism/msg/8752ce3f6eb3ea73
Gays
http://groups-beta.google.com/group/alt.atheism/msg/4b3564998ab901c2
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| User: "stoney" |
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| Title: Re: A city's gays defy conservatives |
02 Mar 2005 10:19:51 AM |
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On 27 Feb 2005 03:11:05 -0800, "maff" <maff91@yahoo.com> wrote:
A city's gays defy conservatives
http://observer.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,6903,1426309,00.html
A city's gays defy conservatives
As the US religious right mobilises, gay activists plan a freedom zone
in its heartland. Paul Harris reports from Spokane, Washington state
Sunday February 27, 2005
The Observer
The Odyssey youth centre is hidden behind an unmarked door on an
anonymous site near downtown Spokane. Nothing betrays its purpose to
the outside world.
Inside, gay teenagers lounge on sofas, shoot pool, flirt and surf the
internet. Here, behind closed doors in the heart of conservative
'redder than red' America, they feel safer when hidden. 'One day I
hope that our youth don't have to come here in secret through the back
door,' said Laurel Kelly, Odyssey's executive director.
In Spokane that day might be soon. Activists have embarked on a
radical plan to create a gay business district in the heart of the
city. It is a controversial idea in a region known mainly for
political conservatism and the growing presence of evangelical
Christians. But the idea's backers are determined. 'Bring it on.
Spokane won't change without confrontation,' said Bonnie Aspen, a gay
businesswoman and one of the scheme's architects.
Such an upfront move is part of a wider national response by gay
groups in America in the wake of an election in which gay issues, such
as same-sex marriage, came to the fore. In an effort to maximise
turnout among conservative and evangelical voters, same-sex marriage
ballots were held in 11 states during last November's election. All
voted against them.
Gay groups say they have been demonised by a Republican administration
beholden to a powerful evangelical wing that believes homosexuality is
a sin. But, rather than battening down the hatches, they have decided
to launch a fresh push on a broad front of issues. Last month 22
different gay organisations for the first time signed a joint list of
priorities ranging from gay marriage to jobs law and the rights of
gays in the military. Opponents of gay rights have mobilised too.
Strengthened by their new political power, a battery of conservative
organisations is pushing forward. Another 15 states are expected to
have gay marriage ballots soon. Some conservative groups, such as
Focus on the Family, meet weekly to plan strategy to fight a
'homosexual agenda'.
Since the election both sides have won victories. Conservatives have
savoured a Supreme Court decision that declined to hear a Florida case
challenging a ban on gay adoption. Gay rights groups recently saw
victories in California and Montana on same-sex partner benefits
rights.
The divisions of the 'culture wars' are as wide as ever and nowhere
more than in towns like Spokane. The city of more than 200,000 people
lies in the 'blue state' of Washington, but that is skewed by heavy
Democratic voting in Seattle. In fact, Spokane and the entire east of
Washington state is part of a broad sweep of rural 'red America' in
the north-west that includes Idaho and Montana and is a Republican
stronghold. It is an area of rugged mountains and farms, famed for
militia groups. The white power Aryan Nations group chose to make its
headquarters just a few miles from Spokane, over the Idaho border.
The area has also seen an explosive growth in evangelical churches.
Several large ministries have their headquarters in the region and
many condemn homosexuality as evil and against the Bible. For members
of Spokane's gay community that atmosphere can be intimidating. 'I
walked right back into the closet when I came here,' said Marvin
Reguindin, a local graphic designer who is also organising the gay
business district plan.
The plan to create the district has sparked controversy even among gay
groups. Critics have wondered at the possibility of creating a gay
area from scratch when other famous gay districts - such as Chelsea in
New York and Castro in San Francisco - have grown naturally.
But the main opposition comes from conservatives and evangelicals. One
Spokane church leader, Walton Mize, bishop of the Christ Holy
Sanctified Church, has warned of an 'underbelly' of gay culture that
will attract sexual predators and be a risk to children. Other
evangelical groups have distributed anti-gay literature to city
officials claiming that gays will bring disease and mental illnesses
into Spokane. Penny Lancaster, leader of an influential body of
evangelical groups called Community Impact Spokane, has said the city
risks becoming a 'gay Mecca'.
So far city officials have maintained silence on the idea, which has
come entirely from the private sector and does not involve any local
authority money. But Spokane's gay groups are not backing down. 'We
need to be visible. It gives validation to who we are,' said
Reguindin. They are already deep in talks with several developers and
have chosen their target area in the city. But they have not revealed
its location, fearing opposition groups will buy property there to
drive up prices and sink the project.
Being gay in small-town America is hard. Last week Spokane was gripped
by a furore after the local school board cancelled a gay high-school
dance just 24 hours before it was due to start. Officials said the
move was made because of 'security concerns' though two police
officers had been hired for the annual Valentine's Day event. They
also said its 14-22 age range was against school policy, even though
the dance had been held with those ages for the past two years. 'It
was just done because it was us gay kids,' said Adam Cogswell, 21.
'Everyone knows that.'
Last week, in an impassioned meeting before the board, members of
Odyssey gave a searing account of how hard it was to be gay and go to
school in Spokane. 'A lot of these kids are walking through the halls
in these schools fearing for their own safety,' said a young girl
called Danielle. Many gay teens wish to leave Spokane for big cities
like Seattle, San Francisco or New York with long-established gay
areas.
However, proponents of the gay district in Spokane hope it would
change things as well as challenging anti-gay prejudice in
conservative areas. Cogswell said: 'We need to move all the gays to
the middle of the country to show them we are people too.'
The gay district planners want their idea to act as a model to smaller
towns. 'If we can do it in Spokane, we can do it anywhere,' Aspen
said. But they admit that being openly gay in many parts of America is
an exercise in fear. 'We live in fear every day. That is part of being
gay right now,' said Reguindin.
There are also some victories. For 90 minutes school board members
were lambasted by students, parents and teachers for cancelling the
gay dance.
At the end a board spokeswoman apologised, admitting that the
cancellation was an unfortunate mistake. 'It will never happen again.'
© Guardian Newspapers Limited 2005
--
Contempt of Congress meter reading-offscale.
Hello, theocracy with a fundamentalist US Supreme
Court who will ensure church and state are joined
at the hip like clergy and altar boys.
America 1776-Jan 2001 RIP
Religion is the original war crime.
-Michelle Malkin (Feb 26, 2005)
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| User: "Graham Kennedy" |
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| Title: Re: A city's gays defy conservatives |
27 Feb 2005 11:24:02 AM |
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maff wrote:
'One day I hope
that our youth don't have to come here in secret through the back
door,'
Talk about a poor choice of words...
--
Graham Kennedy
Creator and Author,
Daystrom Institute Technical Library
http://www.ditl.org
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