Ft. Lauderdale Boycott called by Cruising for Sex.com
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Loading ...Keith Griffith, owner and founder of www.cruisingforsex.com is calling for a boycott of Ft. Lauderdale. Below is his press release just issued today, July 25th.
Boycott Fort Lauderdale
The reason this time remains virtually the same: city policies and city politicians that should make all of us re-consider whether we should spend our time and our money in a place that doesn’t really seem to appreciate who we are and why we go there on vacation. This week the Mayor of Fort Lauderdale, Jim Naugle, basically said he doesn’t really want us to visit his city, something he stated at a news conference on the steps of City Hall, the same news conference where he announced he had just been made aware of a website called Cruising for Sex. The Mayor announced that AIDS was being spread by men engaging in sex in local toilets and that tourists were adding to the problem. He suggested the county tourism dollars should no longer be used to promote the region to gay men since, of course, they bring disease with them.
This all started a few weeks back when Naugle announced the city needed self-cleaning public toilets not because the citizens could benefit from them for the obvious reasons, but in order that homosexuals would stop having sex in the toilets. Local media uncovered the fact that police records listed one arrest for toilet sex in the last three years and local cops were quoted saying this was not a problem.
For those who think he is simply anti-sex, Naugle apparently also refuses to call gay people “gay” because he says there is nothing happy about being gay. Still not enough to convince you? Try these tidbits cited at Wikipedia:
Naugle has said that the American Civil Liberties Union acronym ACLU means “Atheists and Criminal Lobbying Union” and that a proposal for reducing greenhouse gases was “hate-America stuff” concocted by “a bunch of scientists meeting in Paris who’ve had too much wine.” His views regarding homosexuality are that sodomy laws should be enforced and that homosexuality is a sin.
So why punish Fort Lauderdale because of one idiot politician? Well, this idiot has been re-elected every term since 1991, making him the longest serving Mayor in the history of Fort Lauderdale which would seem to indicate the locals have already made up their minds. Maybe now it is time for the rest of us to decide we’re not going to spend our vacation dollars here.
According to an article in the Chicago Sun-Times, gay people spend $64 billion dollars on travel money per year so clearly our dollars can help (or hurt if withdrawn) a local economy. Planet Out named Fort Lauderdale “Best Gay Resort Town” in 2006. Travel writer Andrew Collins says Fort Lauderdale is “Florida’s leading gay vacation destination.” Even the Greater Fort Lauderdale Convention and Visitors Bureau spins this one, citing the city as “America’s top gay resort area.” Clearly the city of Fort Lauderdale is sending very mixed signals and it is time for a consensus to be reached, but until then we advise no more trips to Fort Lauderdale. The world is full of options for a sunny holiday and thus we urge all sex loving, ACLU supportive, environmentally concerned, gay, bi and straight persons to look elsewhere until things change politically in Fort Lauderdale.
Your opinions and comments please.
HDK Bill
Filed under: Current News, New Post, Politically Incorrect
It is so very tempting to want to punish homophobic Fort Lauderdale Mayor Jim Naugle. The man’s a gay-baiting, manipulative pig. Besides, the city has term limits and Naugle cannot run again. I suspect it is that knowledge that has allowed Naugle’s behaviour, knowing that he’s is essentially no longer answerable to the electorate. To call for a boycott will only further punish those gay businesses which are already struggling as a result of Naugle’s hateful and damaging comments. What is more likely to happen is that conservative-minded tourists will now stay away from Fort Lauderdale, making the GLBT tourist that much more important, resulting in an ironic twist for Naugle and his supporters. Instead of staying away, let’s show up in strong numbers and take a stand against bigotry and hate mongering.
Futher to my previous comments, I would like to suggest that instead of a boycott: Hot Desert Knights and Cruising For Sex should combine their efforts and produce a great porn video based in Fort Lauderdale and use the proceeds to fund any campaign seeking to remove Mayor Jim Naugle from office. It would make for delicious irony.
Comment from Bill at HDK
Rick, HDK has already produced several videos filmed in Ft. Lauderdale. It’s one of our favorite cities. We only provided the subject in hopes of generating some debate in the matter.
While all of at HDK disagree with the current Mayor’s comments and stand against gays, we still believe that everyone has the right to their own opinion; whether that be Mayor Naugle or Cruising For Sex.
As for producing a movie in Ft. Lauderdale in conjunction with Cruising For Sex.com and donating money to any groups seeking to remove the Mayor, we’d love to. One of our favorite sites and favorites cities and some damn hot men!
Hello,
I’m writing from The Greater Fort Lauderdale Convention & Visitors Bureau.
I wish to reassure you and your readers that Greater Fort Lauderdale is a warmly welcoming destination to all travelers. We stand united and proud that our destination has long been enjoyed by gay visitors and supported by the local gay community.
It is important for you to know that the long-standing and positive reputation in the hospitality industry, and the actions of our community, speak far louder than the words of any one individual. Our tourism industry long ago rolled out the Rainbow Carpet and we are committed to providing SUNsational Service to all visitors—straight and gay. Our community is very proud of the diversity of our residents and our visitors.
The Greater Fort Lauderdale Convention & Visitors Bureau has aggressively promoted the destination to the gay travel market for more than ten years and will continue to do so. As home to the International Gay and Lesbian Travel Association, and with more than 100 gay-owned establishments including 30 gay guesthouses, plus restaurants and bars and the second largest Metropolitan Community Church, we invite your readers to personally come and experience our diversity.
We look forward to welcoming readers of this blog to our sunny beaches and appreciate your continued support of Greater Fort Lauderdale.
Thank you.
Nicki E. Grossman
President
Greater Fort Lauderdale Convention & Visitors Bureau
Comment from HDK Bill:
Nicki, thank you so much for your comments and rest assured that Ft. Lauderdale remains one of most favorite cities. Bill