[CS-FSLUG] P-Info: New York Times article confirms what we can expect if pro-homosexual marriage officials and activists win

[Fred Miller]

NEW YORK TIMES ARTICLE CONFIRMS WHAT WE CAN EXPECT IF PRO-HOMOSEXUAL
MARRIAGE OFFICIALS AND ACTIVISTS WIN

I strongly urge you to read the story below, taken from the "New York
Times." The Times is one of the most liberal newspapers in America.
They have always been pro-homosexual marriage.
 
The story concerns what is happening in Key West, Florida, a haven for
homosexuals. It has gotten so bad that the homosexual community is
angered that the city fathers have asked them to tone down their
behavior. 
 
If you read between the lines, you get the sense that even reporter
Nick Madigan isn't comfortable reporting what he sees. In fact, I get
the impression that he is holding back and not reporting the situation
to be as bad as it is.
 
Homosexual marriage is the crown jewel in the homosexual push. They
aren't really interested in homosexual marriage (only a tiny number
have married in Sweden where it is legal). What they want is
acceptance and approval of their lifestyle and the freedom to practice
it in any manner they desire.
 
Please read the story. If you are interested in knowing which Senators
and Representatives voted for homosexual marriage and are up for
re-election, click here.  I urge you to print out this list, make copies 
and distribute to your friends, church and Sunday School members, neighbors 
and others.
http://www.afa.net/PDFs/against_fma_list.pdf (pdf format)
http://www.afa.net/PDFs/against_fma_list.doc (Word document). 

Sincerely,
 
Donald E. Wildmon, Founder and Chairman
American Family Association
 
----------------------------------------------------------------------  

October 20, 2004  

Key West, Suddenly Shy, Puts Pasties on Its Party

By NICK MADIGAN
      
KEY WEST, Fla., Oct. 17 - As night falls on Duval Street, dazed
tourists stumble from bar to bar, taking in decked-out drag queens,
comely strippers and other entertainments considerably more
outrageous. In the dark corners of some of Key West's gay clubs,
things go on that, even here, most people do not talk about in public. 

It takes a lot to shock people in Key West. If you come to town, the
thinking goes, you may as well forget about prudishness andp ropriety.
And yet the southernmost city in the contiguous United States, long
considered beyond the reach of mainland mores, is undergoing a
struggle over its morals. 

City officials, who are bracing themselves for Friday, the start of
Fantasy Fest, an annual 10-day bacchanal that draws about 80,000
people and exceeds the blowouts of New Orleans at their most bizarre,
are trying to crack down on the more outlandish aspects of Key West's
sexually indulgent ways. 

This month, the City Commission passed an ordinance that limits the
number of strip clubs, clothing-optional bars and X-rated video
stores, and spells out that sex in public is illegal. But some things
remain sacred: a clause to require body painters to shield their naked
patrons from view was struck. 

"It does get pretty raunchy," said John Jones, the assistant city
manager. "We're trying to be more family oriented, but it's still an
adult town. I wouldn't advise anyone to bring their children to
Fantasy Fest." 

The effort against blatant displays of sexual behavior comes as city
officials have begun forcing homeless people to bunk down in tents
next to the Monroe County Jail and have ordered the police to arrest
violators of regulations on open containers anywhere but on the
busiest blocks of Duval Street, where enforcement would mean arresting
just about everyone. 

In addition, the street-front counters that for years have served rum
runners and piña coladas to passers-by must now ask their patrons to
step onto their property before they can receive their drinks. 

"Good God, this is turning into a Republican town," proclaimed the
Pistol and Enema Web site, which advertises itself as "the gay
information source for Key West." 

Workers in the sex industry here say they are stunned at the movement
toward modesty, the very thing they left the mainland to escape. 

"It's gotten ridiculous," said Ed Tremarco, a bartender at the
gay-oriented Bourbon St. Pub. "They even tried to have the body
painters put up curtains. That got shut down, but it's like they have
nothing better to do than to come after us." 

Christy Sweet, a stripper who sued Key West officials after they
rescinded her license two years ago to operate a storefront parlor
called Personal Dances, said the newly conservative bent in town was a
result of a real estate boom in which wealthy out-of-towners were
buying up expensive second homes. 

"There's a different group of people coming here," Ms. Sweet said,
"and they're just not as open to adult entertainment."  

A poster outside the 801 Bourbon Bar advertises nightly drag shows, at
9 and 11, starring "Key West's most beautiful queens." But a brochure
tied to Fantasy Fest promotes more risqué fare at the bar's sister
establishment, the Bourbon St. Pub, including an advertisement for an
Oct. 25 "Dungeons and Dragons" party that promises "live
demonstrations" and comes with a warning: "This leather fetish party
is not for the timid or shy." 

In Key West, where representatives of the various preferences operate
in a relatively harmonious alliance, it is widely assumed that there
is sex in the backrooms of some of the clubs, mostly in the gay ones
but sometimes in the straight ones. 

Mary Jane, a stripper prone to acrobatics who said she came here to
work a year ago so that that she could save money to return to
college, recalled being astounded at what she heard was going on in
the gay clubs. 

"Oral sex, right there in front of everyone," said Mary Jane, who was
wearing high heels, tattoos and nothing else. "I couldn't believe it." 

Mr. Jones, 72, the assistant city manager, said there were certain
things the city could not stop. 

"If you're a young man and you want to make out, no matter what your
sexual preference, you can pretty much do it in Key West," he said.
"We tolerate it to a certain extent, as long as you don't do it in
public." 

The new ordinance establishes that the town's 14 strip joints and
pornographic book and video stores, as well as a clothing-optional
resort, a clothing-optional restaurant and two clothing-optional bars,
may remain in place but makes it much harder for new licenses to be
issued for such businesses. 

At least one of those bars, Naked Lunch, was cited recently because
employees were topless in a place that was not legally an
entertainment venue. Code enforcement officers also said the Key West
Scrub Club, a strip joint, could not drive and park all over town its
white vans, decorated with paintings of bikini-clad women and
promoting its "Live Totally All-Nude Girls!'' 

"We do want to keep our uniqueness and funkiness," said Tom
Oosterhoudt, one of the City Commission's five members. "What we don't
want is major strip-joint chains on every corner, so it looks like
Anywhere, U.S.A." 

Mr. Oosterhoudt said he had successfully toned down some of the
ordinance's more onerous provisions, so much so that its proponent,
his colleague Carman Turner, ended up voting against it. 

"It still reflects the more freewheeling, free-spirited legacy of Key
West's history," Mr. Oosterhoudt said. "We've always been a place of
live and let live." 

END ARTICLE 

-- 
"Running Windows on a Pentium is like getting a Porsche but only being
able to drive it in reverse with the handbrake on."