Dade-ja vu.The never-ending 1970s revival seems to have taken hold of politics as a new law protecting gays and lesbians in south Florida is now under attack by the religious right. As a result, Miami-Dade County could be on the brink of a less than psychedelic flashback--a replay of a culture war that in 1977 galvanized gal·va·nize tr.v. gal·va·nized, gal·va·niz·ing, gal·va·niz·es 1. To stimulate or shock with an electric current. 2. both the modern gay and antigay movements. At the center of the controversy is an amendment, passed in December by a sharply divided Miami-Dade County commission, that guarantees protections against discrimination based on sexual orientation sexual orientation n. The direction of one's sexual interest toward members of the same, opposite, or both sexes, especially a direction seen to be dictated by physiologic rather than sociologic forces. . A similar law caught the ire of former beauty queen and orange juice pitchwoman Anita Bryant Anita Jane Bryant (born March 25, 1940, in Barnsdall, Oklahoma) is an American singer. In the 1970s she became the spokesperson for Florida orange juice, making a series of television commercials for them. and antigay activists nationwide 22 years ago and was consequently repealed. While opponents this time do not have Bryant's name recognition, they are nonetheless more organized and politically astute. Anthony Verdugo, executive director of the Miami-Dade Christian Coalition Christian Coalition, organization founded to advance the agenda of political and social conservatives, mostly comprised of evangelical Protestant Republicans, and to preserve what it deems traditional American values. , denied that the group is spearheading a petition drive in opposition to the law, but gay activists said the coalition has been soliciting local congregations' support for a repeal and has been distributing antigay propaganda. "The materials currently being circulated by the opposition show the type of lies and innuendo innuendo n. from Latin innuere, "to nod toward." In law it means "an indirect hint." "Innuendo" is used in lawsuits for defamation (libel or slander), usually to show that the party suing was the person about whom the nasty statements were made or why the comments this very public fight will generate," said Jorge Mursuli, president of the pro-gay group Save Dade, who added that he is preparing for the "second battle of Miami." Among the materials Mursuli said are being distributed is a "Gay Manifesto," which suggests gays and lesbians not only demand that society instruct "young people in homosexuality" but that they also aim to "subject orthodox Jews and Christians to the most sustained hatred and vilification in recent memory." This rhetoric may remind one of the summer of '77, but don't expect Hurricane Anita to blow her way through the Sunshine State. Now living in Sevierville, Tenn., the warbler warbler, name applied in the New World to members of the wood warbler family (Parulidae) and in the Old World to a large family (Sylviidae) of small, drab, active songsters, including the hedge sparrow, the kinglet, and the tailorbird of SE Asia, has said she will remain on the sidelines On the sidelines An investor who decides not to invest due to market uncertainty. on the sidelines Of or relating to investors who, having assessed the market, have decided to avoid committing their funds. this time. It seems the audiences of Branson, Mo., where she often performs, need her more. |
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