Subject: EARTH CHARTER CANDLELIGHT VIGIL TUESDAY, AUGUST 16th in
HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY - TAMPA
Date: Sun, 31 Jul 2005
From: The Whimsy LOOPS
To: Whimsy LOOPS Readers
Organization: The Whimsy Political Clearinghouse


Forwarded To: The Whimsy LOOPS Readers
By: Nadine Smith, Executive Director, Equality Florida


EARTH CHARTER CANDLELIGHT VIGIL TUESDAY, AUGUST 16

Please join us in an Earth Charter Candlelight Vigil on Tuesday, August
16 from 7:30 p.m. to approximately 8:15 p.m. to shine a light on the
Hillsborough County Commissioners' anti-gay and lesbian policy and to
stand together for inclusiveness. We will meet in the center of
Gaslight Park (bordered by Tampa Street, Madison Street. Franklin
Street, and Jackson Street in downtown Tampa) at 7:30 p.m. and then walk
in silence three blocks east on Kennedy Blvd, cross Morgan Street to
Courthouse Park across from the large pink County Building. We will
congregate on the Northwest corner of the park under the Cupola Dome to
read together a few words from the Earth Charter and silently
meditate/pray for ten minutes for fairness and equality for all
residents of Hillsborough County. Please invite friends and family to
join us in this peaceful gathering.

We will be carrying a banner with the words "One Human Family" from the
Earth Charter. Options include wearing a white shirt, T-shirt or blouse
with a positive sign to express who you are and/or what you are standing
for. Suggestions include: ""Grandmother", "Parent", "Artist",
"Christian", "Inclusiveness', "God loves all people".

Please bring a candlesome will also be available along with plastic cups
for holding the candle.

Please recycle the plastic cup.

Tuesday evening was chosen because it is the evening before County
Commissioners' meeting on Wednesdays.

A follow-up to the vigil will be held on at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, August 23
in Hyde Park to make future plans. Please email
Roberts@transformworld.org or call 813-254-8454 for directions.

Words from the Earth Charter to be read in unison:

We are one human family and one Earth community with a common destiny.

We must join together to bring forth a society founded on respect for
nature,
universal human rights, economic justice and a culture of peace.

Towards this end, it is imperative that we, the peoples of Earth,
declare our
responsibility to one another, to the greater community of life and to
future
generations.

To do this, we commit to:

Uphold the right of all, without discrimination,...and to eliminate
discrimination in all its forms, such as that based on race, color, sex,
sexual orientation, religion, language and national, ethnic or social
origin.

Let ours be a time remembered for the awakening of a new reverence for
life, the firm resolve to achieve sustainability, the quickening o the
struggle
for justice and peace and the joyful celebration of life.


Ten minutes of silent meditation/prayer

Gong will ring to indicate time has passed.

Dispersal.
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By Chris Kahn
Education Writer
South Florida Sun-Sentinel

July 27, 2005

Gay rights activists and members of the Anti-Defamation League crammed into a Broward County School Board meeting Tuesday to confront the district about comments its Diversity Committee members made about a children's video.

"There were terrible, ugly, homophobic things said in that committee," said Stratton Pollitzer of Equality Florida, a civil rights group. "That can't be allowed to stand."

Pollitzer helped organize South Florida's lesbian and gay community when he heard some committee members worried the "We Are Family" video would lead to conversations about same-sex couples.

Superintendent Frank Till won't budge from his decision to keep it out of classrooms, in part because it duplicates existing diversity programs. But the ADL, which distributed the video to thousands of schools throughout the country this year, plans to work with the School Board to make it acceptable for viewing.

In the meantime, Pollitzer said the district needs to show that it doesn't approve of anti-gay comments.

"We must speak out," he told the board. "If we don't, then bigotry would go unchallenged in Broward County."

Outside, Margaret Hostetter of Davie said she wanted to make a speech at the meeting, but there were too many people. Hostetter, a former Diversity Committee member, said she was glad the video got rejected.

"It's inappropriate for a child in pre-K to be introduced to the idea that a family could be any group that loves each other," she said. "It isn't appropriate."

The video never mentions homosexuality.

Through most of it, Kermit the Frog, SpongeBob SquarePants, Barney and other children's characters sing We are Family.

During Tuesday's meeting, community leaders stepped forward one-by-one to stare down board members and ask why the video was rejected.

"Teaching people to value diversity and respect people ... only enforces democracy," said Dennis Kainen of the ADL. "There's no subliminal message, as was alleged."

"Please allow this wonderful tape to be allowed in our schools," said Sharon Saphier-Grad, a former teacher and parent. "We are all part of the human family."

More than 70 people came to Tuesday's meeting, some spilling into a room next door, where they debated whether children should be introduced to homosexuality in school.

Diversity Committee Chairman Bill Rettinger said members had concerns about the video before voting 10-7 not to recommend it. For instance, he said, they worried it might teach children to be friendly with strangers.

"We spoke about it for hours," Rettinger said. "It was a very divisive issue."

Comments about the video by Diversity Committee member and conservative radio host Steve Kane have drawn the biggest reaction. Kane said he thought the video was a "foot in the door" for gays to push their message in the school system.

"This is America. Whatever parents want to do in their home is fine," Kane said in a telephone interview. "I've done bizarre and perverse things in my life. But teaching it to kids K-through-sixth [grade] in school is a different matter."

Marty Rubenstein, the School Board member who appointed Kane, said he regretted any comments Kane and others made that gays and lesbians considered offensive.

Afterward, he told reporters that he might remove Kane from the committee.

"Kane has done more for kids in Broward County than a lot of people, but he still says stupid things sometimes," he said. "What do you do?"

Chris Kahn can be reached at cmkahn@sun-sentinel.com or 954-356-4550.
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PRESIDENT OF FLORIDA GLBT DEMOCRATIC CAUCUS REACTS TO BROWARD COUNTY SCHOOL BOARD ACTION

Fort Lauderdale, FL – July 26, 2005

At a Broward County School Board meeting on July 26, a resolution (4001.1) was passed that stated any behavior against a person or group of persons because of race, creed, color or sexual orientation was “unacceptable.” This resolution was in reaction to the public outcry over the Diversity Committee of the Broward School Board removing a video from Elementary Schools called “We Are Family,” a video with the Muppets that speaks for tolerance of people who might be different from yourself.

The following are comments from Michael Albetta, President of the Florida GLBT Democratic Caucus, and former President of the Dolphin Democrats, the Broward County GLBT organization:

- The School Board should be commended for taking this public stand in response to the outcry over their Diversity Committee taking such an anti-diversity action. But this resolution is just the first baby step of what must be done.

- If I were to give the School Board a Report Card at this point, I would say “shows promise but much work needs to be done for a passing grade. The so-called Diversity Committee has clearly demonstrated they do not play well with others.”

- What needs to be done is restructuring of the Diversity Committee to ensure that it can function away from radical political agendas and help the School Board build programs that will allow our students to productively function in a diverse city and county, and later in a diverse workforce and world.

- What no citizen should tolerate is a School Board Diversity Committee that has dominant forces on it that are openly anti-diversity and anti-tolerant. If that is not subversive behavior to Democracy and our educational process, then what is?

- If a simple video featuring the Muppets, that merely takes a generalized stand for the democratic value of tolerance, is considered too controversial, then what next? Will the Declaration of Independence be also removed from our classrooms, because after all, it goes much further than this video when it declares, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” First the Muppets are too much, and then the Founding Fathers?

If your news media would like to further interview Mr. Michael Albetta, he can be reached by calling 954 - 560-8649.
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Jul 22, 2005

Librarians Hit The Books To Oppose County's Ban On Gay-Pride Display
By GRETCHEN PARKER and JULIE PACE
The Tampa Tribune

TAMPA - Meagan Albright went to Westgate Regional Library on Thursday night to read - and to protest.
She silently paged through a book while sitting next to a sign that said, ``Let Librarians Display All Kinds of Books.''

Albright was joined by about 20 others who protested equally quietly.

Last month, a display of gay literature at Westgate Library designed by Albright, a part- time librarian and graduate student in library science, prompted the Hillsborough County Commission to adopt a policy banning county-sponsored acknowledgment of gay pride.

Also Thursday, in an e-mail to its 1,500 members, the Florida Library Association declared the county off-limits for its members' meetings, conferences and workshops until the commission rescinds its policy.

It's a stepped-up response to the commission's policy, which prompted the director of the county library system to take down Albright's display, as well as two other library displays of gay-themed and gay- authored books. Earlier, the association voiced objections in a letter to the county commission and asked the board to reconsider its action.

The boycott is a ``more powerful tool than just expressing concern,'' said Nancy Pike, president of the association and director of the Sarasota County library system.

``As small as our economic impact might be, it's what we have,'' Pike said.

The association's board approved the resolution in an e-mail vote last week.

The association immediately canceled a two-day meeting of its executive board, which was set for Aug. 25-26 at a library in New Tampa. The 30 to 35 attendees instead will report to Sarasota, where some will stay overnight at a local hotel there, Pike said.

Librarians who belong to the association meet about once a month in Hillsborough County. The association holds its annual conference in a rotating cast of cities, but no conventions will be set for Tampa until the policy is rescinded, Pike said. The conference draws about 900 librarians and staffers for 3 1/2 days.

County Commissioner Kathy Castor, the only board member to vote against the policy last month, said: ``That's what happens when you pass a discriminatory policy without giving much thought to it.''

Commissioner Thomas Scott said he hadn't heard about the boycott. He said the responses he's heard are evenly split for and against the policy.

At Thursday's protest, Martin Sicard, a Hillsborough school librarian, said he expects more groups to support the boycott.

``This is just the beginning,'' Sicard said. ``Economics is really the only way you're going to get anything to change.''

Sicard organized the silent protest of librarians and educators at Westgate. They gathered to read the books that were taken down from Albright's display. Sicard said he got permission from the library staff to reserve the meeting room for the protest.

One of the participants was Mel Pace, associate director of the school of library science at USF, who said the county's policy is a threat to the future of libraries.

``This is about the mission of the library system, which is a uniquely American system,'' Pace said.

The county's policy, which bans county departments from ``acknowledging, promoting and participating'' in gay pride events, has drawn the ire of librarians nationwide, who say it jeopardizes their freedom to choose books they supply and promote.

On Wednesday, the commission heard from about 20 residents who object to the policy. Without commenting, the commission declined to reconsider it.


Reporter Mark Holan contributed to this story. Reporter Gretchen Parker can be reached at (813) 259-7562. Reporter Julie Pace can be reached at (813) 865-1505.

This story can be found at: http://www.tampatrib.com/FloridaMetro/MGBUDHVYFBE.html
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The message we sent yesterday regarding the community-wide town hall meeting on Wednesday contained an invalid link to view the "We Are Family" video.

The following link contains the video as well as a segment from Keith Olberman's MSNBC show with commentary on the "controversy" ("what controversy", as Keith puts it).


http://www.msnbc.msn.com/default.cdnx/id/6850011/displaymode/1157

This will let you see the actual video and I think you'll enjoy Keith's commentary.
See the full article

When: Wednesday, July 20, 7:00pm
Where: Sunserve, 1480 SW 9th Avenue
(Directions: From Davie Boulevard, between I-95 and Federal
Highway, turn South on Southwest 9th.
The Sunshine Cathedral campus is on your left and our meeting is
upstairs behind the pink door.)

Ask your family, your neighbors, your friends and your
co-workers to join you.
Together we'll demand that our schools not surrender to
prejudice.

To RSVP or to volunteer, please contact Stratton Pollitzer,
stratton@eqfl.org

See the We Are Family Video HERE:
http://ga4.org/ct/TdzzIhF1Gzd_/
See the full article

By BILL VARIAN Published June 16, 2005

http://www.sptimes.com/2005/06/16/Hillsborough/Hillsborough_bans_cou.shtml

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TAMPA - Hillsborough Commissioner Ronda Storms promised last week to seek a county policy banning public library displays that promote Gay Pride and Lesbian Pride Month.


Storms went a step further Wednesday, getting most of her fellow commissioners to ban the county government from so much as acknowledging gay pride.


And she made it tough for the policy to be rescinded.


After scant discussion that contrasted with many impassioned pleas from gay rights advocates during the morning public comment period, the board passed the proposal 5-1.


Commissioner Kathy Castor voted no, and Commissioner Ken Hagan was out of the room during the vote.


The discussion went like this:


Storms: "I move that we adopt a policy that Hillsborough County government abstain from acknowledging, promoting or participating in gay pride recognition and events, little g, little p."


Castor: "I think it's inappropriate for government to promote discrimination."


Commissioner Brian Blair double-checked Storms' wording.


Then they voted.


Storms followed up with a second proposal, that commissioners can only repeal the policy on a 5-2 super majority vote that follows a public hearing. This time, Hagan was in the room and joined the majority in a 6-1 vote, with Castor again dissenting.


An attorney for the National Center for Lesbian Rights immediately pledged to file a lawsuit contending the policy violates free speech and equal protection rights for gays and lesbians.


"You don't hide the discrimination by making it broader," said Karen M. Doering of St. Petersburg, who serves as regional counsel to the group. "She found a mole hill she didn't like and blew up the mountain saying, "I don't like the mole hill.' "


Others cast blame on all of the commissioners who stood with her.


"I think that Hillsborough County commissioners sent a very clear message that not everyone is welcome here," said Vonn New, Central Florida director for the gay, lesbian and transgender rights advocacy group Equality Florida. "I think it's shameful what the commission has done."


By Wednesday, Equality Florida had already scheduled a town hall meeting on the topic at 6:30 p.m. Monday at the Metropolitan Community Church, 408 E Cayuga St. in Seminole Heights. The church pastor, the Rev. Phyllis E. Hunt, attended Wednesday's meeting and left with her eyes welling, admitting her un-pastorly anger.


"I'm stunned, disappointed and shocked that there was zero conversation about the vote," she said.


The vote comes about a week after a story in the St. Petersburg Times noted that a book display recognizing Gay and Lesbian Pride Month was taken down at West Gate Regional Library after some library patrons complained. The story mentioned a similar exhibit at John F. Germany Library in downtown Tampa.


Library officials have said the exhibit at West Gate was removed due to a misunderstanding and was later moved to a less prominent area in the fiction part of the library.


In the public comment portion of Wednesday's meeting, several speakers protested the library actions and any effort to squelch such displays, thinking that was all Storms had in mind.


With Storms' "little g, little p" footnote, the vote appears to ban any recognition of gay pride, even outside of June.


However, county officials were still trying to figure out the ramifications of the new policy.


Does it necessarily ban any display about gay issues at libraries? Storms would only say afterward that she feels the language is clear.


How about a display of books written by gay and lesbian authors, or that explore gay themes? Again, the language is clear, Storms said.


What if a gay student group wants to meet at a county library or any other meeting space?


Only on that point would Storms elaborate. "We're not saying that because of your sexual orientation you can't come into the library," she said.


© Copyright 2002-2005, St. Petersburg Times
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