National gay
groups rail against Fort Lauderdale mayor

A bipartisan coalition of 16 national gay organization leaders distributed an open letter Thursday blasting Fort Lauderdale, Fla.'s antigay mayor. The letter, sent to the city and Broward County commissions, demands that legislators pass a resolution to condemn Mayor Jim Naugle's words and actions denigrating his gay constituents.

While it is apparent that the mayor does not speak for all of the local government, the letter read, it is up to other legislators to denounce Naugle's comments made in his official capacity: "Otherwise, your collective silence may be taken by others to mean that his comments actually do reflect the views of your city, not just the mayor's own personal and deplorable prejudices."

Among the signers were the executive directors or presidents of the National Stonewall Democrats, Log Cabin Republicans, Human Rights Campaign, Family Pride, and the Mautner Project.

A dispute was sparked between Naugle and Fort Lauderdale's Sun-Sentinel newspaper when he said it should be called Rainbow Sentinel because of a supposed majority of gays on its staff. He also proposed an initiative to make public bathrooms in Fort Lauderdale self-cleaning with automatic timers to prevent gays from having sex there. (The Advocate)