30Jul/05Off
Ronda Storms’ growing legacy of hatred and violence
When local leaders preach fear and loathing, it should come as no surprise when ignorant, thuggish constituents feel empowered to act out violently.
A mobile home belonging to a gay couple was torched and an offensive epithet was spray-painted on the front steps, authorities said.
Paul Day, 25, and Christopher Robertson, 23, returned home from errands Monday to find their house in Kings Manor Mobile Home Park in Lakeland burned and the words "Die Fag" spray-painted on the front steps.
July 30th, 2005 - 10:13
That’s correct, Ronda and all other HCBOCC except for Kathy Castor, are inciting violence which may lead to murder and that makes them accomplices in my mind. They are undemocratic and un-American! I call them the American Taliban, not the Christian Taliban because there is nothing Christian about them. Jesus did not teach hate and intolerance but unconditional love and acceptance.
July 31st, 2005 - 13:27
Glad to see I’m not the only person blogging on the Hillsborough County Commissioners! Great job and I couldn’t agree with you more.
Someone needs to get the word out and blogging sends the message not only across the country, but all over the world!
Thanks and keep up the great work! Someone needs to wipe that smile off of Ronda’s face!
August 1st, 2005 - 19:49
Thanks Norwood for such a great space.
I agree that we need to keep this issue in the forefront
and not back off. The Hillsborough County Commission
is doing their best to fore us back in the closet and make us
invisible. I encourage everyone gay and straight to stand up
against this discrimination in any way they can.
This was my most recent letter to the editor(s) and to the Hillsborough County Commission – whose addresses are as follows:
I also have been working out my rage by making Anti-Ronda T shirts on my speakoutshirts.com. If anyone has any other Anti-Ronda ideas they would like for me to put up, let me know and they will be sold at the cafepress price with no mark-up.
Ronda Storms
Mark Sharpe
Ken Hagan
Jim Norman
Scott Thomas
Subject: The Hate That They Create
This whole anti-gay policy business was started because
Ronda Storms purportedly did not want to explain what ‘gay’
meant to her 6 year old daughter. She somehow still thinks that
this has to do with “talking about someone’s sex life.” This is not
about having to explain sexuality to children and it never was.
[The county's action…] is just good, old fashioned, narrow-
minded, southern-style discrimination.
It took five people, who obviously don’t know the first
thing about gay people, less than than one minute to
decide that a whole county of us are not worthy of
mere visibility. It is alright for county money to go
toward a ‘Confederate Day’ — yet they have
justified outlawing gay pride altogether.
So, now, I have to explain to my seven-year-old son why
some people hate other people, and want to take
away their rights, just because of who they love.
When I asked my son if he knew what gay
meant, he stated, quite simply, that it meant if you
were a girl you liked girls and if you are a boy, you
like boys. He of course saw no problem with that,
because he was never TAUGHT to hate.
That seems like a very reasonable, simple and
factual definition for any parent to give if they were
asked that question.
But maybe Ronda Storms and her gaggle of idiots would
rather explain why people can’t feel safe in their own
neighborhood because their home might get vandalized or
burned down, or how a Tampa could beati his three-year-old
son to death because he was afraid he might turn out to be gay.
Or why thousands of teenagers commit suicide every year
because they are gay and have no one to turn to, and no
resources readily available to help them. These children are
beaten, abandoned, or shunned by their own hateful, ignorant
and bigoted parents.
This is the environment that they are breeding.
This is the violent social climate that they are creating.
The county commissioners (with the exception
of dissenting vote Kathy Castor) should feel personally
responsible for the arson of Paul Day and Christopher
Robertson’s home and for the brutal death of this three-year
old victim of hysterical fear and bigotry.
Being gay is not our choice, any more than being
straight is theirs. Why would anyone choose this
prejudice for ourselves, our friends, or our families?
This is our life and we are worthy of being loved.
We are worthy of being visible and we are worthy
of being proud!
As a gay person, a taxpayer and a resident of
Hillsborough County, I demand the same rights
and respect as everyone else. As a parent, I take
responsibility for what my children can and can not
see. I am proud to teach my children about
tolerance, acceptance & diversity. Any parent who
isn’t teaching their children these principles
should be ashamed.
This policy is not only blatant discrimination – it
perpetuates hate, violence, ignorance and
inequality, and is an injustice for all people.
Children have a very simplified view of the world:
Love is good. Hate is bad.
So maybe Ronda Storms should go home and have a
talk with her six-year-old… she just might learn
something.
August 3rd, 2005 - 21:36
I have struggled over the last month and a half as I stood by in disbelief over Ronda Storms and a majority of the Hillsborough County Commission’s decision to ban gay pride from libraries and other government agencies with no public debate. On they went to cut funding to a valuable Planned Parenthood program. What’s next? Atheists? Catholics? Jews?
I question whether Ms. Storms has ever read her own church’s “What We Believe” statement? It states in section seventeen of Religious Liberty that “The Church shall not resort to the civil power to carry out it’s work.” Why is it not clear by now that Commissioner Storms is preaching from the office of government which she holds. Or that she likely believes as so many in her flock believe that they must use their influence in the workplace and world to “ spread the gospel” to the ends of the earth. Or that the role of women’s subservience to husbands is a “truth” that many times is espoused in fundamentalist churches to include not even leaving or divorcing a husband that is physically and emotionally abusive to the spouse and/or children. Or that the subservience of children to parents may include corporal punishment if deemed necessary.
How could Hillsborough County have elected a group of people who use oppression and fear to discriminate against ten percent of us that need love and acceptance from Christian Churches. Not hate and oppression. This constant hate and oppression brings on low self esteem, internalized homophobia, depression and for many the resultant unhealthy choices as struggles with sexual orientation continue throughout lifetimes. Many of us have attempted or completed suicide fearing there is no where to turn or trust. It is time that those set in their ways take a fresh look at scripture as has been done in the past to help eradiate slavery, bi-racial marriage and women’s suffrage. A good start would be to study the original Greek terms used in the Bible “malakoi” and “arsenokoitai” It’s also time for us to stand up and fight for our right to dignity, equality and a world that is safe and free from irrational and uneducated bias. More importantly, a world in which most mainline churches do not cause many of us to question even our own salvation because of the differences that God created in us.