{"id":630,"date":"2012-07-27T09:52:34","date_gmt":"2012-07-27T13:52:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/2012\/07\/valdosta-mayor-provides-more-earned-media-for-group-he-doesnt-like.html"},"modified":"2012-07-27T09:52:34","modified_gmt":"2012-07-27T13:52:34","slug":"valdosta-mayor-provides-more-earned-media-for-group-he-doesnt-like","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/2012\/07\/valdosta-mayor-provides-more-earned-media-for-group-he-doesnt-like.html","title":{"rendered":"Valdosta Mayor provides more earned media for group he doesn&#8217;t like"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Valdosta Mayor Gayle continues to provide earned media to a group he doesn&#8217;t agree with, South Georgia Pride. He says people support him ten to 1 in refusing to issue a proclamation against bullying. Yet a local TV online poll is running 2 to 1 against his position. In addition to the obvious cultural issues, there are also economic issues involved.<\/p>\n<p>Dean Poling wrote for the VDT today, <a href=\"http:\/\/valdostadailytimes.com\/local\/x825336806\/Pride-denied-Valdosta-mayor-denies-LGBT-event-proclamation\"> Pride denied: Valdosta mayor denies LGBT event proclamation<\/a>,<\/p>\n<blockquote><a href=\"http:\/\/valdostadailytimes.com\/local\/x825336806\/Pride-denied-Valdosta-mayor-denies-LGBT-event-proclamation\"> <img decoding=\"async\" style=\"float:right;border:none;\" class=\"at-xid-6a0120a58214e4970b016768d284ca970b\" src=\"\/blog\/images\/6a0120a58214e4970b016768d284ca970b-pi.jpg\"    \/><\/a> Gayle said responses are running 10-1 in agreement with his decision.<\/blockquote>\n<p>WTXL.tv (ABC 27) asks in a poll attached to a story by Jade Bulecza yesterday, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.wtxl.com\/content\/topstories\/story\/Mayor-turns-down-proclamation-request-from-gay\/mOCXrq9jD0GwZDASzm_Mvg.cspx\"> Mayor turns down proclamation request from gay community<\/a>,<\/p>\n<blockquote><a href=\"http:\/\/www.wtxl.com\/content\/topstories\/story\/Mayor-turns-down-proclamation-request-from-gay\/mOCXrq9jD0GwZDASzm_Mvg.cspx\"> <img decoding=\"async\" style=\"float:right;border:none;\" class=\"at-xid-6a0120a58214e4970b016768d284ce970b\" src=\"\/blog\/images\/6a0120a58214e4970b016768d284ce970b-pi.jpg\"    \/><\/a> Do you agree with Mayor Gayle&#8217;s decision not to sign the P.R.I.D.E. Proclamation? <br \/> Yes (32.4%) <br \/> No (67.6%)<\/blockquote>\n<p>That looks to me like 2 to 1 against the mayor&#8217;s position. Bulecza&#8217;s story included:<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>&#8220;Most of them (proclamations) are for the cancer society, the heart fund, you know things like this or either a pastor at a church for so many years and everything and this is the first one I get like this where my beliefs interfere with it,&#8221; said Mayor Gayle.<\/p>\n<p>The mayor says he recognizes all the group does for the community. He says he welcomes everyone to Valdosta.<\/p>\n<p>Since Mayor Gayle took office in January this is the only proclamation he turned down. The south Georgia group says they had a proclamation signed last year.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>In less than a year in office the mayor has already found difficulty separating his personal beliefs from his office as mayor.<\/p>\n<p>What was he asked to sign, anyway? The VDT story has the details:<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>The requested proclamation does not include an endorsement of gay marriage nor does it officially endorse the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender lifestyle.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe proclamation opposes bullying and hate crimes based on sexual orientation,\u201d Williams said. \u201cIt says the city recognizes we&#8217;re here and we&#8217;re part of the community.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In essence, the submitted proclamation would have noted that the South Georgia Pride Committee:<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n<!--more-->\n<blockquote>\n<ul>\n<li> seeks a welcome environment for people of all sexual orientations or gender identity\/expression; <\/li>\n<li> takes a stand against bullying and hate crimes and works to educate tolerance for all sexual orientations, races and religions; <\/li>\n<li> works to educate the community of AIDS\/HIV infection and prevention; <\/li>\n<li> recognizes the contributions of area gay and transgender citizens to the texture and diversity of our community; <\/li>\n<li> recognizes that gay and transgender citizens work \u201calongside us in our places of employment, and contribute to the success of our employers and businesses\u201d; <\/li>\n<li> recognizes that gay, transgender and \u201cquestioning students\u201d attend area schools and colleges; <\/li>\n<li> recognizes that gay and transgender people donate time, talent, labor etc., to community organizations; <\/li>\n<li> recognizes that gay and transgender people attend area places of worship. <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>If signed, the proclamation would urge \u201call citizens to recognize and applaud the numerous contributions of the South Georgia Pride Committee as well as all gay and transgender members of the community.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>That&#8217;s what the mayor refused to sign.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>Williams said she and other South Georgia Pride members feel Valdosta is a far more welcoming place \u201cthat embraces everyone no matter their sexual orientation, their race, their sex, or their religious beliefs.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe believe in and celebrate diversity,\u201d Williams said, then referred to the city&#8217;s motto. \u201cValdosta is a \u2018city without limits\u2019 and we believe that all citizens of Valdosta and Lowndes County should be proud of our diverse city.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.southgapride.org\/#!\/page_Home\"> <img decoding=\"async\" style=\"float:right;border:none;\" class=\"at-xid-6a0120a58214e4970b016768d284d2970b\" src=\"\/blog\/images\/6a0120a58214e4970b016768d284d2970b-pi.jpg\"    \/><\/a> The lack of a proclamation will not hinder the South Georgia Pride Festival, Williams said. It is still scheduled for noon-7 p.m., Sept. 15, Saunders Park, off River Street. More information: Visit <a href=\"http:\/\/www.southgapride.org\/\"> www.sgapride.org<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>VDT got that last wrong; it&#8217;s actually <a href=\"http:\/\/www.southgapride.org\/\"> www.southgapride.org\/<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>If Valdosta and Lowndes County want to attract knowledge-based jobs and workers, and to keep the ones who graduate from local high schools and colleges, it&#8217;s worth realizing a thriving LGBT community is a leading indicator of an active community that attracts such jobs and people.<\/p>\n<p>Hm, far from hindering South Georgia Pride&#8217;s festival, all this free earned media will probably get more people to attend. Maybe the group should issue a proclamation thanking Mayor Gayle for all the free publicity he&#8217;s organized for the festival!<\/p>\n<p>-jsq<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Valdosta Mayor Gayle continues to provide earned media to a group he doesn&#8217;t agree with, South Georgia Pride. He says people support him ten to 1 in refusing to issue a proclamation against bullying. Yet a local TV online poll is running 2 to 1 against his position. In addition to the obvious cultural issues, [&hellip;]","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[97,40,14,15,70,266,2,1908,734,54,133],"tags":[8736,2053,8717,8704,8705,8728,8756,8701,8699,259,2062,2063,7,2064,2067,8846,2069,2068,2066,2050,2065,8800,6,8726,8742,8850],"class_list":["post-630","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-activism","category-community","category-economy","category-education","category-ethics","category-festivals","category-government","category-religion","category-television","category-valdosta-city-council","category-vdt","tag-activism","tag-bullying","tag-community","tag-economy","tag-education","tag-ethics","tag-festivals","tag-georgia","tag-government","tag-john-gayle","tag-lgbt","tag-lgbtq","tag-lowndes-county","tag-proclamation","tag-race","tag-religion","tag-religious-beliefs","tag-sex","tag-sexual-orientation","tag-south-georgia-pride","tag-south-georgia-pride-festival","tag-television","tag-valdosta","tag-valdosta-city-council","tag-vdt","tag-wtxl"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p585fK-aa","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/630","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=630"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/630\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=630"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=630"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=630"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}