Pensacola: Gay Festival Faces Opposition
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Tom Dempsey
Oct 12, 2005, 11:17:20 PM10/12/05
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A gay festival in a downtown Pensacola park will go on as planned...
despite major objections from several city councilmen.
Channel Three's Dan Thomas explains why some in the council don't want
to be seen as endorsing the festival but won't... or can't... do
anything to stop it.
This is Bartram Park, serene, well kept and in the heart of downtown
right on Pensacola Bay.
It's no wonder the location attracts so many festivals of all types and
tastes.
But there is one festival planned here that is not getting a warm welcome.
Charlotte Brown: "We all know that children have a difficult time today
and this would provide a lot of psychological ramifications for
children, families, anybody who happened to be down there."
That's Pensacola resident and mother, Charlotte Brown speaking before
Pensacola City Council at Monday's Committee of the Whole meeting.
She wanted the City Council to be aware that Bartram Park was slated to
be the site for "Come out Pensacola" a festival that encourages
homosexuals to come out of the closet.
The news came as surprise to many council members who wanted to make it
clear that just because it was being held in a public park it is not
endorsed by the city.
Marty Donovan: "They ought to do it at a bar or some kind of club where
they go in voluntarily not at a city park down at Bayfront Parkway."
Jack Nobles: "Sometimes it's fortunate and unfortunate but sometimes
everybody has rights in this country to do the things they feel they
need to do. But I certainly think we need to go on record as not
condoning this sort of behavior."
Mike DeSorbo: "We're looking at ways why we shouldn't. We need to look
at it from the other end. I guess what I'm trying to say are there
reasons why we don't need to do this, legally."
The councilmen asked the legal department to find out if there is anyway
to stop the festival.
The answer: absolutely not.
Mike deSorbo: "Since that meeting, we've got to approach it from the
standpoint of 'protect yourself legally', to make sure we don't infringe
on somebody's rights."
DeSorbo says he won't do anything to stop the festival, but he's still
morally opposed to it.
Jon Durre: "That's proof of the ignorance that's there."
"Coming Out" organizer and retired minister Jon Durre spent 30 years in
the closet, married to a woman.
He says he hopes the festival will change opinions.
Durre: "There are an awful lot of us who are Christian people who
celebrate the same values and cherish the same values that our Baptist
brothers and sisters share."
Copyright 2005 WEAR-TV
http://www.weartv.com/
despite major objections from several city councilmen.
Channel Three's Dan Thomas explains why some in the council don't want
to be seen as endorsing the festival but won't... or can't... do
anything to stop it.
This is Bartram Park, serene, well kept and in the heart of downtown
right on Pensacola Bay.
It's no wonder the location attracts so many festivals of all types and
tastes.
But there is one festival planned here that is not getting a warm welcome.
Charlotte Brown: "We all know that children have a difficult time today
and this would provide a lot of psychological ramifications for
children, families, anybody who happened to be down there."
That's Pensacola resident and mother, Charlotte Brown speaking before
Pensacola City Council at Monday's Committee of the Whole meeting.
She wanted the City Council to be aware that Bartram Park was slated to
be the site for "Come out Pensacola" a festival that encourages
homosexuals to come out of the closet.
The news came as surprise to many council members who wanted to make it
clear that just because it was being held in a public park it is not
endorsed by the city.
Marty Donovan: "They ought to do it at a bar or some kind of club where
they go in voluntarily not at a city park down at Bayfront Parkway."
Jack Nobles: "Sometimes it's fortunate and unfortunate but sometimes
everybody has rights in this country to do the things they feel they
need to do. But I certainly think we need to go on record as not
condoning this sort of behavior."
Mike DeSorbo: "We're looking at ways why we shouldn't. We need to look
at it from the other end. I guess what I'm trying to say are there
reasons why we don't need to do this, legally."
The councilmen asked the legal department to find out if there is anyway
to stop the festival.
The answer: absolutely not.
Mike deSorbo: "Since that meeting, we've got to approach it from the
standpoint of 'protect yourself legally', to make sure we don't infringe
on somebody's rights."
DeSorbo says he won't do anything to stop the festival, but he's still
morally opposed to it.
Jon Durre: "That's proof of the ignorance that's there."
"Coming Out" organizer and retired minister Jon Durre spent 30 years in
the closet, married to a woman.
He says he hopes the festival will change opinions.
Durre: "There are an awful lot of us who are Christian people who
celebrate the same values and cherish the same values that our Baptist
brothers and sisters share."
Copyright 2005 WEAR-TV
http://www.weartv.com/
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