Bigotry/Florida

[ls317]

When Paul Day returned home to see "die fag" spray-painted on the steps of his smoldering mobile home, he was frightened, but not shocked. Day and his boyfriend had been harassed before, and their hometown of Lakeland in Florida's Polk County also boasts the First Baptist Church at the Mall, whose head pastor is spearheading the drive for a constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage--despite the fact that it's already illegal in the state.

Brian Winfield, communications director of Equality Florida, says he's bracing for more events like the arson attack. He says that it stands to reason that if the anti-gay forces choose to make their home in Lakeland, it reflects "a community where people feel comfortable with their bigotry, so much so that they are willing to act it out in violent ways."






http://www.inthesetimes.com/site/main/print/official_bigotry/