Harassment by any other name…
Wow… On the West Coast, there really are a few cities that you look towards for GLBT leadership. Those cities are San Francisco, Seattle, Los Angeles, and Portland (probably in that order – at least in my mind). We have leadership in those cities that not only welcome the GLBT community, but help fight the ignorance and hate from those on the right. But what’s going on in Seattle right now is scary as hell.
The City of Seattle has various groups that employees of the city can join. One of those groups is the GLBTQF (Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgendered, Questioning, and Friends) Club. The city gives each of the groups $1,000 per year and allows employees to work on behalf of their group for two hours per month. That’s all fine and dandy. And then along comes Seattle City employee Philip Irvin. He wanted to join the GLBTQF Club, but he was not allowed. Why? Because Philip is a fundamentalist who does not think that gays should be allowed to exist, much less have a club. Obviously the GLBTQF Club is within their rights to refuse him entry. After all – would you want to bring someone into your home that’s just going to yell at you endlessly? No – that’s why we all moved out of our families homes!
Well Philip would not let it sit. To “get even” with the group, he is suing the city and is asking to force the names of everyone in the GLBTQF Club to be named publicly. He wants the names of ALL GLBTQ Seattle employees to be published so that everyone knows who they are and the City of Seattle almost went along with it, until a temporary injunction could be put into place. If the names are released what are you going to do, Mr. Irvin? Will these employees end up like Dr. George Tiller? Haunted constantly, and then some whackjob goes and tries to assassinate them, too?
Think I’m a little out there? Think again. The rate of hate crimes – specifically murder – against GLBTQ folks is rising at an alarming rate. Yeah. This is 2009, and people are still being racist, homophobic, murdering bastards. So excuse me for NOT wanting to give out the names of the GLBTQF Club employees!