Gay Pride Week?

[Joe Whisman]

Ryan,
Who died and made you God? It is not for you to decide that homosexuality is morally wrong. Your efforts would better placed helping rather than hurting. You appear to be bitter and fearful. Why not try to bridge gaps in the community? We need positive action, there are many problems that Lakewood faces today. We are losing jobs, people, churches, oh yeah our federal government is bombing people all over the world.
My challenge to you is to open your mind and heart and make new friends. The only way our city can become stronger is together. What can you do that is good and positive?

[dl meckes]

Is it possible to take personal attacks out of the conversation?

Can we have a dialogue, rather than a shouting match?

[Richard Cole]

Is it just me or are there a lot more important things for the City to be working on than having a gay pride week? Any thoughts?

Ryan,
a) yes there are many important issues facing our community;
b) our city is being proactive in endorsing a sense of inclusive community - they deserve to be commended;
c) the rest of your thinly veiled bigotry - I personaly find appalling.

[DougHuntingdon]

Why doesn't the city should spend its time and resources on what it should be doing that it is NOT doing (according to the voluminous posts on here) like (1) keeping the parks clean, (2) enforcing building codes, arresting criminals, (3) maintaining the streets, and (4) shoveling the sidewalks on its OWN property?

Why is the city focused on making it this group's week or that group's week? If we think about it, we all know they are just pandering to different groups in order to get re-elected. This particular week in question just happens to be about gays, which is a rather volatile subject to many. Why they choose to excluse the l, b, and t of lgbt is beyond me, but that's not the point.

Now some may say, well you just say that because you are not lgbt. Well, if I was lgbt, I would rather have a city that focused on the above 4 things, for example, rather than declaring "this is your group's week" and erecting a special pole in front of city hall with a rainbow flag. Don't those who are lgbt also want clean parks, building codes enforced, criminals arrested, and clean sidewalks?

As far as individual council members, I don't think the top concern of a voter should be if they are a lesbian with two kids, if they are married with ten kids, or single with no kids. The concern should be what they are going to do to help the city do what it is SUPPOSED to be doing.

Doug

[David Lay]

As far as individual council members, I don't think the top concern of a voter should be if they are a lesbian with two kids, if they are married with ten kids, or single with no kids. The concern should be what they are going to do to help the city do what it is SUPPOSED to be doing.

Bingo.

[Holly C. Whisman]

Is it possible to take personal attacks out of the conversation?

Can we have a dialogue, rather than a shouting match?

The very posting of this topic is a personal attack. Doesn't the Observer have some sort of policy against hate speech?

[dl meckes]

Finding ways to recognize our diversity and all of the threads that make up the fabric that is Lakewood isn't necessarily a bad thing and I don't want to dismiss it as pandering. That seems too cynical to me.

[dl meckes]

Is it possible to take personal attacks out of the conversation?

Can we have a dialogue, rather than a shouting match?

The very posting of this topic is a personal attack. Doesn't the Observer have some sort of policy against hate speech?

Here's the policy: "You agree not to post any abusive, copyrighted, obscene, vulgar, slanderous, hateful, threatening, sexually-oriented or any other material that may violate any applicable laws."

Here's the initial post, "Is it just me or are there a lot more important things for the City to be working on than having a gay pride week? Any thoughts?"

While I assumed this was a way to open a can of worms, I also wondered whether this was also a way to open a dialogue.

The original poster has a belief set with which I personally disagree and I'm pretty sure the OP disagrees with my POV as well.

How can we come to terms? How can we have a dialogue? Where does that begin?

That isn't a rhetorical question.

I have more real questions.

If the object of the Obsevation Deck is to get people's opinions and ideas out in the open, and if we prefer not censor or ban our contributors without a really solid reason, is this a solid enough reason?

Do we want to learn more or less from someone who has run for public office in the past and may decide to do so again? What about any neighbor?

Who should make the decision to censor or ban?

Should we start a new thread to consider these questions?

[Ryan Salo]

Is it possible to take personal attacks out of the conversation?

Can we have a dialogue, rather than a shouting match?

The very posting of this topic is a personal attack. Doesn't the Observer have some sort of policy against hate speech?

Here we go again, if you are not for my lifestyle you are a hater Come on lets have real conversation without calling people haters and bigots.

BTW I am not saying I am God I am just stating what God has said about the lifestyle not the individuals. I will never judge someones salvation, but I am not going to let immoral lifestyles be accepted by our culture.

[Bryan Schwegler]

Why doesn't the city should spend its time and resources on what it should be doing that it is NOT doing (according to the voluminous posts on here) like (1) keeping the parks clean, (2) enforcing building codes, arresting criminals, (3) maintaining the streets, and (4) shoveling the sidewalks on its OWN property?

Why is the city focused on making it this group's week or that group's week? If we think about it, we all know they are just pandering to different groups in order to get re-elected. This particular week in question just happens to be about gays, which is a rather volatile subject to many. Why they choose to excluse the l, b, and t of lgbt is beyond me, but that's not the point.

Now some may say, well you just say that because you are not lgbt. Well, if I was lgbt, I would rather have a city that focused on the above 4 things, for example, rather than declaring "this is your group's week" and erecting a special pole in front of city hall with a rainbow flag. Don't those who are lgbt also want clean parks, building codes enforced, criminals arrested, and clean sidewalks?

As far as individual council members, I don't think the top concern of a voter should be if they are a lesbian with two kids, if they are married with ten kids, or single with no kids. The concern should be what they are going to do to help the city do what it is SUPPOSED to be doing.

Doug

Doug,
Please create a list of resources that are being diverted to recognize Gay Pride Week that could be doing any of those things you listed. I think you'll find, even if this recognition didn't happen, those things still wouldn't have been done.

[Bryan Schwegler]

BTW I am not saying I am God I am just stating what God has said about the lifestyle not the individuals.

However I just want to point out that it's your opinion of what God thinks, which is debatable and many religious scholars and entire denominations disagree with you.

I also have to defend you in that I don't think you intended to start a thread filled with hate speech as has been implied by some here. While I find your standpoint and some of the terminology and assumptions you've made about gay people utterly appalling, I don't think it comes from a hateful standpoint. While I do think you're a bigot which is defined by the American Heritage Dictionary as:

One who is strongly partial to one's own group, religion, race, or politics and is intolerant of those who differ.

I think you are only a bigot due to a completely uninformed standpoint and not out of hate.

[Ryan Salo]

Bryan,

I think that part of the problem is that we have elected people that invest THEIR time to progress topics that do not accomplish the things like Doug mentioned.

It isn't how many resources this takes from the city but the fact that the mindset of certain elected officials is that this is the most important issue to them right now. If it wasn't the most important they would be working on progressing other issues.

[Dee Martinez]

Do we want to learn more or less from someone who has run for public office in the past and may decide to do so again? What about any neighbor?
?

I dont believe there is any reason to ban anything, other than outright personal attacks on named individuals.

I am glad you pointed out that the original poster has been and most likely will again be a candidate for offic ein Lakewood. I dont think that is an irrelevant fact. That shouldnt be a reason to disqualify or censor a post but its a good fact to know.
Frankly best strategy for the pro-diversity people at this point would be to let this topic sink to the bottom of the list.

[Ryan Salo]

Bryan

I love how people that are open minded to all views think they have arrived and everyone else is uneducated. I have done a lot of study on this topic and while you mention there are whole denomination that agree with you, the MAJORITY of churches and the MAJORITY of the public believes otherwise, just look at the marriage protection laws that have passed overwhelmingly across the country.

I was open to a discussion on this topic but when the opposition assumes people are just dumb if they take this stance it is pointless to discuss it any further. I can accept that very intelligent people disagree with me but it seems you cannot think that way.

If anyone is hated and belittled it is people in the majority that stand up for what they believe, not the other way around.

[Ryan Salo]

Just to let people know, I will not be running for an elected position in Lakewood again. Kevin is doing a great job in Ward 1 and I do not have aspirations for any other positions. I am for progress of the city, and I can help that movement without having to be in an elected position.

So all you that "hate" me, relax, I will just be a guy that gets involved in the background and starts posts that are controversial and that get WAY of of hand.