The publisher of Fort Lauderdale-based South Florida Gay News is not happy about what went down in Dominica last week, when two gay men from Palm Springs were arrested on board an Atlantis cruise for being naked and/or boinking in public. So not happy, in fact, that he’s calling for a boycott of the gay cruise company.
SGFN publisher Norm Kent, who’s also a local criminal defense attorney and former talk radio host, comes out swinging and doesn’t mince words about what he sees as the main cause of the brouhaha:
This is because the land of Dominica is socially retarded, a lot like the emerging African community of Kenya, recently stirred to insane and bizarre ideological frenzies over homosexuality. They hate their gays in Dominica. Beat ‘em, but don’t be ‘em.
Kent then details the account of what happened to the arrestees, Dennis Mayer and John Hart, as has been previously reported here. He then continues:
In summary, these island guests were treated like a black kid wearing a hoodie in Sanford, Florida. Here is the thing, though. Gay America and LGBT Californians can do something about it. We can rightfully expect the cruise ship companies to defend their guests and stand up for their rights. Or so we thought
Asks Kent:
Why the hell is a cruise ship company catering to the LGBT community running cruises to islands that openly and brazenly discriminate against gay populations? What kind of morons are we giving our money to? What kind of morons must we be to give them our money?
This may all be minor and unfortunate to Mr. [Rich] Campbell and his multi million dollar parade of cruise ships, but they are not minor to the South Florida Gay News or our website, nationalgaynews.com.
They represent a major concern. Consequently, we are going to stand up for the rights of the LGBT community even if the cruise cartel won’t. First, from this day forth this paper shall not accept advertising or publicize the programs of Atlantis Events or Celebrity Cruises. Second, this paper calls for all gay men of good conscience to conscientiously boycott those cruises and their launches to ports which openly discriminate against gay life and gay Americans. This is not about the wrongfulness of two gay men being caught engaged in a pubic act in a public place. They would be as wrong for doing the nasty on a public balcony on a cruise ship as in front of a condo swimming pool in a retirement community in Boca.
This is about the wrongfulness of a cruise ship enterprise being so willing to ask the gay community to spend their gay dollars in ports of call that are harbors of hate, decks of discrimination, and points of poison.
Full story here: http://www.queerty.com/publisher-of-florida-gay-mag-in-fiery-tirade-boycott-atlantis-20120329/#ixzz1qjDidFHW
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