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Community
concerns
that
Fort
Lauderdale
Mayor
Jim
Naugle’s
anti-gay
campaign
last
summer
may
have
helped
to
create
an
atmosphere
of
intolerance
that
led
to
the
recent
wave
of
anti-gay
violence
were
reinforced
this
week
as
word
spread
about
the
mayor’s
latest
column
in
the
city’s
quarterly
newsletter.
Naugle
devotes
most
of
his
column
in
the
February
newsletter
to
discussing
his
ongoing
efforts
to
clamp
down
on
gay
cruising
in
public
parks.
“Imagine
my
dismay
this
past
summer,”
Naugle
writes.
“When
I
learned
that
a
tourism
website
was
listing
one
of
our
main
children’s
parks
as
a
location
for
men
to
meet
for
sex.”
The
column
was
tucked
neatly
in
an
otherwise
friendly-looking
glossy
publication
among
notifications
about
lawn
watering
restrictions,
beautification
projects
and
volunteering
at
election
sites.
According
to
the
city’s
public
information
office,
the
Focus
on
Fort
Lauderdale
newsletter
came
out
in
mid-February
about
two
weeks
before
the
murder
of
Simmie
Williams
and
beating
of
Melbourne
Brunner
outside
a
restaurant
on
Las
Olas.
According
to
Chaz
Adams,
a
senior
public
information
officer
for
the
city,
publishing
the
newsletter
cost
the
city
$8,300.
The
entire
newsletter,
including
Naugle’s
column,
was
removed
from
the
city’s
website
Tuesday.
Naugle
told
the
Express
that
he
did
not
intend
for
his
column
to
be
published
in
the
February
newsletter.
Instead,
he
said
he
wrote
the
column
in
October
to
be
published
in
the
November
2007
edition
of
Focus
on
Fort
Lauderdale.
“I
submitted
the
message
to
the
public
information
office
for
the
November
edition,
back
when
the
controversy
was
raging,”
Naugle
said.
“I’m
angry
that
it’s
published
now.”
But
while
he
says
the
inclusion
in
the
city’s
February
newsletter
is
a
mistake,
he
does
not
retract
the
message.
“The
message
is
still
relevant,”
he
said.
“I
still
stand
by
what
I
was
saying.”
Naugle
said
that
he
had
submitted
an
alternative
mayor’s
message
to
be
published
in
the
newsletter,
but
when
the
Express
asked
to
see
the
new
column,
Naugle
balked,
saying
that
“it’s
not
ready.”
Gay
activists
began
mobilizing
as
e-mails
began
to
be
exchanged
that
expressed
outrage
that
the
mayor
was
using
the
tax-funded
publication
to
spread
his
message.
The
activist
group
Fight
Out
Loud
sent
out
an
action
alert
March
1
urging
residents
to
contact
city
commissioners
to
pull
the
plug
on
the
online
version
of
newsletter.
“How
much
longer
will
our
city
allow
Naugle
to
incite
hate
and
violence
toward
the
LGBT
community?”
read
the
group’s
press
release.
In
his
interview
with
the
Express,
Naugle
referred
to
Fight
Out
Loud
as
a
“pro-public-sex
organization.”
Waymon
Hudson,
president
of
Fight
Out
Loud,
said
that
Naugle’s
words
combined
with
images
of
a
conservative
pastor
wearing
combat
fatigues
at
a
September
press
conference
have
served
only
to
heighten
anti-gay
sentiment
in
the
city
six
months
later.
“[The
mayor’s
column]
never
should
have
come
out,”
Hudson
said.
“It
never
would
have
made
it
into
print
if
he
were
talking
about
any
other
minority.”
Hudson
said
he
does
not
believe
Naugle’s
explanation
that
the
city
published
the
wrong
column.
He
thinks
Naugle
is
backtracking
after
an
embarrassing
situation
arose
with
the
news
of
the
recent
alleged
hate
crimes.
Naugle
did
not
attend
either
the
vigil
or
memorial
service
Thursday
for
slain
gay
teen
Simmie
Williams.
The
events
drew
a
host
of
civic
leaders,
including
elected
officials
and
Fort
Lauderdale
Police
representatives,
who
addressed
hate
crimes
in
the
city
and
throughout
the
state.
Naugle
said
he
was
aware
of
the
events,
but
could
not
squeeze
either
one
into
his
schedule.
He
said
he
returned
from
a
trip
in
the
early
afternoon
Thursday
and
had
to
travel
again
Friday
morning.
The
memorial
events
for
Williams
were
held
at
4:30
p.m.
and
6:30
p.m.
on
Thursday.
Naugle
dismissed
suggestions
that
he
missed
an
opportunity
to
mend
fences
with
the
gay
community
and
to
address
concerns
that
his
words
last
summer
are
inspiring
people
to
lash
out
violently
against
gay
people.
“There
are
no
fences
to
mend,”
Naugle
said.
“I
never
used
hate
speech.”
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