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The crazies turn out for Pride
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Recovering gay James Hartline
Yesterday, it was reported that La Mesa City Councilwoman Ruth Sterling had retracted a congratulatory letter she sent to San Diego's LGBT Pride organization in honor of 34 years of service to the community. It seemed like an odd gesture at first for an elected official to flip-flop so publicly on her own point of view, but then it was discovered that she was just the latest in a long string of political pawns for ex-gay fanatic James Hartline.
The story begins back in April when Sterling sent her initial letter congratulating Pride. There is nothing unusual about this as many local officials routinely send in such letters every year. Pride has received about 20 so far in 2009.
When the letter was posted on Pride's web site, James Hartline sprang into action and contacted Sterling. Hartline, an ex-convict, has made a career out of denouncing Pride and the LGBT community to anyone who will listen. On his web site, he has even gone so far as to blame gays for various wildfires that have rampaged across California in recent years.
After listening to Hartline, Sterling sent a second letter to Pride in June where she officially un-congratulated the organization. Without citing specifics, Sterling said in the letter that she "was shocked and shaken to my core to learn of the lewd and lascivious behavior and unconscionable activities portrayed" at Pride.
It all came to a head yesterday during the La Mesa City Council meeting. Mayor Art Madrid, who has previously clashed with Sterling, stated that the councilwoman's point of view did not represent the city of La Mesa. Others spoke at the meeting as well, including Hartline and members of Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG).
Anyone who has been paying attention to Pride over the last decade knows that this type of clash is nothing new. Every year, Hartline tries to ramp up support against Pride for reasons that are clear only to him. He is a fixture at San Diego City Council meetings where his rants have grown more and more tiresome and repetitive. Through increasingly bizarre tirades, Hartline has lost much of his mainstream political clout though which is why he is now trying to rally support out in La Mesa. I would encourage people to check out his blog for a good primer on how self-loathing can turn into fanatical monomania.
Happy Pride, everyone.
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