Gay Activists 'Welcomed' to Cleveland, Tennessee -
Home of Anti-Gay Sen. Jeff Miller (R)
The words "Fags Mobile" were painted in pink letters on the side of the Soulforce Equality Ride tour bus.
Wayne Besen reports:
The Equality Ride bus was defaced Thursday evening outside the hotel where Riders were in a planning meeting for their action on Friday at Lee University. As the meeting dispersed, Riders found pink letters scrawled across the side of the bus reading "Fags Mobile." The bus driver reported that he witnessed a middle-aged woman and a teenager drive away from the scene, possibly a mother and son. The vandalism and suspect description were reported to Cleveland police, who are investigating the crime.
"The attack on the bus is hate speech, plain and simple, spelled out for everyone to read," said Jacob Reitan, Equality Ride co-director. "But a more subtle form of hate speech happens when students at the schools we are visiting are told they are sick and sinful just for being the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people God made them to be."
Afterwards, a number of Lee University students helped clean "the stain of homophobia" from the bus.
Cleveland is the home of one of Tennessee's leading anti-gay legislators, Sen. Jeff Miller (R). Maybe it's not fair to the people of Cleveland, but, for me, the town will always be associated with the infamous Jeff Miller. Although Miller has a gay brother, he has never missed an opportunity to promote the second-class citizenship of gays and lesbians.
With Republican leaders like Senator Jeff Miller, the hate and intolerance can only grow.
The good news is that Jeff Miller says he will not run for re-election. The bad news is that the hate and intolerance he has so aggressively promoted will be with us long after Miller has quit the legislature.
Miller's fellow homophobe Rep. Chris Clem (Lookout Mountain) has also announced that he will not seek re-election.
Today, the Equality Ride stops at the Oral Roberts University. You can follow the Soulforce Journey at the Equality Ride website.
Gay Democrats Gay Marriage Homophobia Equality Ride Same-sex Marriage Jeff Miller Cleveland Tennessee
