Fundies Kick 2 Disabled Gay Men Out of Public Pool in KY

[Alecto]

Bible Cited as Reason for Kicking Gay Men Out of Public Pool

This makes my blood boil. Apparently they were there with a group, and the maintenance tech told the director of Mending Hearts that "gay people weren't allowed to swim there" and that the maintenance tech "owned the pool" and could kick them out.

[momoko]

And I'm guessing that the Bible verse pertaining to banning gays from public pools is 'somewhere in the back ...' :evil:

I hope they get an apology and there are consequences for whoever turned them away.

[Aeryn406]

I wonder if a lot of news outlets picked this up. I hope so! And, someone needs to inform people with this kind of mindset that America is not a theocracy and the Bi-bul is not the same as the civic codes that local governments have to follow! Good luck to the protesters, too! :gay-color:

Something like this happened near me, a couple of summers ago. An African-American summer camp group was asked to leave a swimming pool because the owner said he had complaints from some of the other patrons - they said they didn't care for the new 'atmosphere' that the kids created. From their interviews, they all sounded like nice, polite kids around 8 to 10 years old. One little boy said he started playing with another child close to his age and the mother actually came up & took her son away from the area, got their stuff together & left! Did I miss the time-slip back to 1940!? The news talked about that nearly every day for months & months! I think the pool finally had to close because of it. *Now, we'll just wait for one of our visiting pets to say, "But that's different!"*

[Purple]

Though I am in NO WAY defending discrimination against gays or anyone else, an important piece of the story is missing: How did the management know the men were gay? Since no explanation is given in the article, and the two are referred to as "a couple" in an article that the posted article links to, I can't help but wonder if there was some PDA going on that the management found inappropriate. This story supports that version of events:

http://www.wkyt.com/news/headlines/Two_ ... ml?ref=054

That doesn't change the fact that double-standards are wrong, or that the person who kicked them out is a bigoted idiot with a fundamental misunderstanding of the nature of public funding. However, kicking patrons out for inappropriate PDA is very different from walking up to someone who hasn't done anything and saying "I've heard you're gay, so you can't swim here". I'm reluctant to cry "Discrimination!" without knowing exactly what the couple did, because I would imagine they have rules about heterosexual PDA, as well.

[scifimommy]

That is just crazy. Why didn't the ones who were offended just leave?

[debrand]

I read some of the replies that followed the article that was linked to by Purple. It appears that there really weren't any witnesses to this supposed PDA and there is no mention as what the PDA was. Unless they were groping one another, I don't see the issue with some PDA anyway. Throwing couples out of a public place for holding hands, giving quick kisses or hugging would be extreme and not a place that most happily married, heterosexual couples would want to go.

[tehfanglyfish]

People are just beyond words, aren't they.

When doing thesis research for my M.A. in history, I came across a organization that was integrating its swimming pool. It had to hold a special meeting where doctors basically had to tell the white people that it was medically safe to swim in water where African Americans were also swimming.

People are frighteningly ignorant and in this case (with the gay men), apparently quite cruel as well.

[sisof9]

for what it's worth I think that's horrible!! If they are kicking anyone who does excessive PDA (or any :)) out then they can ask them to leave because of the PDA or ask them to not be PDAish at the pool, but to kick them out because they are gay is so wrong.

[failsafe]

When doing thesis research for my M.A. in history, I came across a organization that was integrating its swimming pool. It had to hold a special meeting where doctors basically had to tell the white people that it was medically safe to swim in water where African Americans were also swimming.

Wasn't there an Oprah episode about this?

I sometimes forget, in my liberal coastal enclave where most people I meet are not overtly racist (not to say there isn't subtle racism, there is) that there are people who are literally. this. ignorant. in the world.

[Black Aliss]

Though I am in NO WAY defending discrimination against gays or anyone else, an important piece of the story is missing: How did the management know the men were gay? Since no explanation is given in the article, and the two are referred to as "a couple" in an article that the posted article links to, I can't help but wonder if there was some PDA going on that the management found inappropriate. This story supports that version of events:

http://www.wkyt.com/news/headlines/Two_ ... ml?ref=054

That doesn't change the fact that double-standards are wrong, or that the person who kicked them out is a bigoted idiot with a fundamental misunderstanding of the nature of public funding. However, kicking patrons out for inappropriate PDA is very different from walking up to someone who hasn't done anything and saying "I've heard you're gay, so you can't swim here". I'm reluctant to cry "Discrimination!" without knowing exactly what the couple did, because I would imagine they have rules about heterosexual PDA, as well.

In the comments section of that article someone quotes the staff member as saying that no PDA took place. Regardless of whether there was any inappropriate behaviour, these are developmentally and intellectually disabled people! The appropriate response would have been for the pool employee to point out the behaviour to the person supervising the group.

[brashchick]

I just read the story. That they were mentally disabled as well makes this incredibly cruel and ignorant. Sometimes I hate some people. (I try not to because I know it is wrong)

PS: Thanks again for the smileys. There is my "Umbrella of protection". Take that, Bill G !

[BlackHawk]

So I'll make this my intro post as well, sorta! I'm new, I'm gay, I grew up fundie light, and that's the condensed version! yay.

That said, I live in KY, and have been watching the news about this. The only "recorded act" of PDA discussed that I have seen is some hand holding, nothing more than that.

They were asked to leave NOT because of their supposed PDA, as they were told the Bible condemned their relationship. They were asked to leave because they were gay, simple as that really. The reasoning they were given makes the difference here. If the staff had said "We hold a not PDA policy" then their removal from the pool would have been okay. The staff, however, falsely stated they owned the pool and that they were to leave because the "Bible does not support your lifestyle", homosexuality.

I don't know that you can call these people fundies however. This is just a lot of the thinking of Eastern KY in general... it may just be ingrown ignorance, not radical fundamentalist beliefs.

[debrand]

I'm glad that you brought up the staff's lie, BlackHawk. That shows that they weren't following a stated rule about PDA but their own believes. Do you know if the staff members in question were fired?

[higgledypiggledy]

I fall on the even if it was a pda violation and not a gay issue, as the city is trying to make it out to be, this is NO way to treat developmentally disable people. We don't know the extent of their disabilities but would the staff kick out a five year old for kissing her friend. Probably not. If there was inappropriate pda I'm sure its because these men didn't understand that engaging in pda is not considered socially acceptable (to some folks at least). I tend to think it was discrimination based on the fact that they were 1. gay and 2. developmentally disabled. Sadly, it is not uncommon for disabled adults to encounter viscous and ridiculous discrimination and to be held to the behavioral standards of adults when functionally/intellectually and emotionally they are children. Probably the guy at the pool had two bigoted jack ass prejudices and used the bible to back up his own feelings of superiority and squeamishness. If I had been a staff member for the men, I would have quoted back to the ass "Suffer the little children" Yep, suffer through when they embarrass you, behave in ways that bother you, annoy you etc.. because "of such is the kingdom of heaven." And then I would have stood my ground and they would have needed to take us out in handcuffs. I think I need to post a letter to the city.

[BlackHawk]

I'm glad that you brought up the staff's lie, BlackHawk. That shows that they weren't following a stated rule about PDA but their own believes. Do you know if the staff members in question were fired?

As of right now everything is being "reviewed". They haven't fired anyone because now they are backpeddling about why they were removed from the pool. That's why there are now a few stories out about it being a PDA violation VS being removed for being gay.

[Kelya]

I wonder if a lot of news outlets picked this up. I hope so! And, someone needs to inform people with this kind of mindset that America is not a theocracy and the Bi-bul is not the same as the civic codes that local governments have to follow! Good luck to the protesters, too! :gay-color:

Something like this happened near me, a couple of summers ago. An African-American summer camp group was asked to leave a swimming pool because the owner said he had complaints from some of the other patrons - they said they didn't care for the new 'atmosphere' that the kids created. From their interviews, they all sounded like nice, polite kids around 8 to 10 years old. One little boy said he started playing with another child close to his age and the mother actually came up & took her son away from the area, got their stuff together & left! Did I miss the time-slip back to 1940!? The news talked about that nearly every day for months & months! I think the pool finally had to close because of it. *Now, we'll just wait for one of our visiting pets to say, "But that's different!"*

Oh, I lived near that too! (Massachusetts, right?) Someone famous came along and paid for camp to swim somewhere else and youre right, I think the pool had to close from all the negative press and broken contracts, since they had contracts with a lot of camp and school groups.

On the KY incident, I feel like people are really apt to bring up PDA whenever its involving gay men. The bathhouses from the 70s and 80s aren't too far out of the public consciousness, I guess.

[Cassandra]

Oh, I lived near that too! (Massachusetts, right?) Someone famous came along and paid for camp to swim somewhere else and youre right, I think the pool had to close from all the negative press and broken contracts, since they had contracts with a lot of camp and school groups.

On the KY incident, I feel like people are really apt to bring up PDA whenever its involving gay men. The bathhouses from the 70s and 80s aren't too far out of the public consciousness, I guess.

Was it Tyler Perry?

I remember there was an incident where some black campers were kicked out of some play area and he helped them.

ETA: http://bossip.com/132668/tyler-perry-br ... -the-pool/

It was in Philadelphia, and he sent them to Disney World.

[Crackedeggs]

I thought the racial pool thing that Aryan was talking about was in the suburbs of Philadelphia. I used to live there, and I was totally not surprised when I heard that story, there is a huge dislike of urban non whites in the suburbs. I hope they did have to close down.

[thoughtful]

I thought the racial pool thing that Aryan was talking about was in the suburbs of Philadelphia.

OK, I usually don't point out typos, because I don't want to annoy or embarrass people.

But this one is too wonderful, in the context of this thread, to pass up!

Hope you don't mind, Crackedeggs.

[Guest Anonymous]

OK, I usually don't point out typos, because I don't want to annoy or embarrass people.

But this one is too wonderful, in the context of this thread, to pass up!

Hope you don't mind, Crackedeggs.

On second thought, he IS laughing at you (them).

[Aeryn406]

On second thought, he IS laughing at you (them).

OK - that was kinda funny. A little uncomfortable, but funny. Maybe I should change the my username to "Erin406", bu then I'd lose the the cool Farscape reference. :mrgreen: