N.S. town considers closing Wood Street to keep out teh gheys ~ update...

Alright, no torture~gate for me today.....Well except for this poll on Peter MacKay's job security.


Is Peter MacKay's job safe?

Ah, those mischievous gays. Always rendezvousing and "doing their thing." Okay, yes, - I confess I was originally going to post this solely for the title, however there are a couple of issues in this story I'd like to address.

The first being the separation of church and government. If an elected official relies on their religious beliefs to steer their policy, they should seek new employment. In this particular case from Nova Scotia, Truro mayor Bill Mills has taken a matter of law and order and clouded the issue with his bigotry.

The town council in Truro, N.S., is considering closing a street which leads to a park that the town's mayor has called a favourite pick-up spot for men.

Truro mayor Bill Mills added to the controversy when he told a local newspaper that the spot was a "favourite pick-up spot for guys from all over the Maritime provinces."

"They go up and have a rendezvous and then they go into the woods and do their thing. It's been known for years and years and is becoming more and more of a problem," Mills told The Truro Daily News.

The other point I'd like to make is, if folks are breaking the law, they should face appropriate consequences, but what difference does it make whether they're gay or not. Why inject your misguided dogma into the situation at all? Are there no heterosexuals "doing their thing" in the park? And let there be no doubt, this mayor is driven by his interpretation of Christianity.

Al McNutt, a gay rights activist who lives in Truro, said the mayor's comments do not reflect well on the town.

"Truro is being looked at by many, many communities as a very, very homophobic town," he said.

McNutt referred to an incident two years ago when the same council caused an uproar when it refused to allow the rainbow flag to be flown during gay pride activities in Pictou County.

At the time, Mills said he could not agree to raise the flag as a Christian.

I doubt the mayor was asked to run around Truro waving the rainbow flag. And therein lies the risk of having one's religious beliefs influence their politics. The flag incident illustrates precisely why there should be a disconnect between church and government. Because the mayor's "Christianity" didn't agree with the flag being raised, he wouldn't let others raise it either. Is that the way to govern? I think it's wrong so ~ I won't let you do it!


*update*

While mayor Mills remains unrepentant, the rest of Truro's municipal council members are distancing themselves from his remarks.

Municipal councillors in Truro, N.S. are distancing themselves from comments made by the town's mayor about gay men using a local park for sexual encounters.

"We all have friends and families in every walk of life so you turn around and you don't want to single out one group…you know it's just not right," said Deputy Mayor Greg MacArthur.

MacArthur said sexual activity at the park "in general" is still a problem.

Good on them.