From a Mayor that won’t acknowledge the existence of the GLBT community to hopefuls actively targeting us…

St Petersburg Florida’s City Logo, before it was changed by the Baker-act administration…at untold cost. Why? Because it looked too gay.

St Petersburg Logo

Really?

Now they are throwing a tantrum because the rainbow flags to be hung for St Pete Pride do not have writing on them, and therefore cannot be hung for the month of June.  In the District where Pride is to be held, as approved by the district, prior to one of the largest, if not THE largest single day events in the county. 

I say we just bring back the old logo, surely there were several that had to be put in moth balls when Mayor Baker-act decided the city logo was too gay.

For those interested…a little bit of history via WikiPedia-

The original gay-pride flag was hand-dyed by Gilbert Baker. It flew in the San Francisco Gay Freedom Day Parade on June 25, 1978. It has been suggested that Baker was inspired by Judy Garland’s singing “Over The Rainbow“.^[3] The flag consisted of eight stripes; Baker assigned specific meaning to each of the colors as follows:

Original eight-stripe version designed by Gilbert Baker in 1978

Version with hot pink removed due to fabric unavailability. (1978–1979)

Six-color version popular since 1979. Number of stripes reduced to an even number to prevent middle color from being hidden when hung vertically on lampposts, indigo changed to royal blue

hot pink: sexuality
red: life
orange: healing
yellow: sunlight
green: nature
turquoise: magic/art
violet: spirit
indigo: serenity/harmony

I am sure by the time the business cards were printed it was too late to change it…but really….SCAT?  Celebrating 30 years of SCAT?…Take the bus, avoid the MESS?

REALLY NOW PEOPLE…is there someone just really evil in your marketing dept.?   Perhaps the same folks that are working for NOM and 2M4M?

yes…another post swiped off of Joe.my.gods page…someday I will find my own material.   really.

Joe.My.God posted this vid…I thought it was quite cute!

The sisters were in gaYBOR this weekend and Sister Hannah did a FABulous job with her Sister Betty Crocker Baked Goods event. Around $500 was raised to be divided between gaYBOR and the Francis House

Okay so I was planning my Sister event,  and am not really worried about that one way or another.  What does have me pissed is that…1) I live where I do 2) people are the way they are 3) It doesn’t look like either is going to change without something drastic.

The City of Treasure Island believes that the sisters having condoms available for those who would like them, and/or safer sex pamphlets would be inappropriate for a family venue.  I can understand not wanting to hand them out actively, or even worrying about litter. Both of which were addressed via not actively “handing out” anything and planning on doing a litter patrol afterwards.  But a family venue?  Really?   I wonder when the last time was that they have actually been to Sunset beach.  Because for the 8 years I have been here it has not been a family venue. Ahhh Sunset Beach, Treasure Island Florida, you know…Tampa Bay’s one and only “gay beach”  (unless you count that guy in the dunes at Fort Desoto).  On any given weekend you will find a mass of everything from South beach muscle bunnies, pale and pasty tourists in speedos, nellies, trannies, bois, gurls, club queens, and domesticated types with kids wearing the I love my two mommies and daddies shirts…all with the pleasant sounds of the crashing waves…oh and Cher and Lady Gaga from the boom box two towels over.  Most straight people who are not accepting of the “homosexual agenda” will typically make it about 15 feet before they get an odd urge to run prancing back to the other end of the beach for fear of cooties or worse.

So I have to wonder who made the decision that information about reducing the spread of STD’s would be innappropriate for such patron.  Is it the Parks and Recreation departments standard response for those that actually go about getting a permit and doing things right instead of doing guerilla outreach? Is it just asking the wrong people? Is it just living in one of the gayest, yet oh so redneck and repressed states in the union…good ol Flo-rida?

In retrospect I probably should have just done the guerilla outreach, played dumb, and dealt…but I really don’t want to pay the fine.

grrr

Perhaps an appearance only will have to suffice…sans machine gun of course.

Kris – thank you very much for contacting the City of Treasure Island regarding your request for distribution of fliers and pamphlets on Sunset Beach. However, the City will have to deny your request. City Ordinance prohibits the solicitation of donations on public property including the beach. Also, the area in question is a family orientated beach and the City feels such material would be inappropriate for distribution. Thank you again for your concern.

Sincerely,

Cathy Hayduke
Parks and Recreation Director
City of Treasure Island
120 108th Avenue
Treasure Island, FL 33706
(727)547-4575

~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~

Hello,

My name is Kris Stavely and I wanted to ask a couple questions about a visit I am hoping to plan to Sunset beach in June. I work with an all volunteer non-profit organization that hands out safe sex information, condoms, does charity fundraisers for Local HIV/AIDS organizations and the American Cancer Society. I know that you rent out the pavilion, however I don’t think that it will be cost effective for us. I am currently planning on hosting our group for a day at the beach, and wanted to check with the city to make sure that us having pamphlets about our organization available for people to take as well as condoms/safer sex information would not be in conflict with anything. I do not plan on actively handing out materials but I would like to have them there if people would like them.

We dress up in crazy outfits, and tend to draw attention and use that attention to raise money and awareness.

Can you let me know if our having such materials available, as well as a donation bucket would be in conflict with any rules/regs you have? Or is there a permitting process that I should look into? There will probably be between 6-10 of us there, primarily as a retreat/day at the beach but also as an outreach.

Thanks for your help

PS (05/02/2009–just reread this[yes slightly bitter])–

Orientated? Really?   WTF?

How about this is a FAMILY “ORIENTED” beach…and one where Condoms and Safer Sex information SHOULD be handed out.

After reading this I just don’t know what to think or feel other than sadness.  This was not happening (at least to anything I have read) before we went over there and put the CURRENT regime in power.  Operation Enduring Freedom in action.   

via Towleroad

REPORT: IRAQI MILITIA KILLING GAY MEN WITH PAINFUL ANAL GLUE TORTURE

The International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission writes: “The following is a translation of a story from Alarabiya, a UAE-based media network, which was published on its Arabic website a few hours ago. While IGLHRC has not verified all of the allegations, many are consistent with patterns of human rights violations being reported from within the country.”