🚀 go-pugleaf

Kick their dirty disease carrying asses clear out of the state.  
Send them to a gay loving state who wants the loathsome creeps.

http://www.q-notes.com/4632/james-police-de-infest-areas-where-
gays-congregate/

CHARLOTTE � Two area LGBT youth service and advocacy groups are 
condemning an anti-gay slur and other comments made by 
Republican Mecklenburg County Commissioner Bill James, and 
demanding an immediate reprimand of his actions at the Dec. 15 
commissioners meeting in which domestic partner benefits were 
approved for same-sex partners of county employees.

The groups� strong statement comes as more comments from James 
are made public, including his assertion that police are working 
to �de-infest� areas where gays �congregate.�

On Dec. 17, the local Time Out Youth and national, Charlotte-
based Campus Pride released a joint statement condemning James� 
comments following Democrat Commissioner Vilma Leake�s personal 
and passionate story about her son�s 1993 death to AIDS. After 
she spoke, James leaned over to her and asked, �Your son was a 
homo, really?�

�Commissioner Bill James� remarks are nothing but intolerant and 
harmful to our area youth,� said Steve Bentley, executive 
director of Time Out Youth. �There is no reason why a young 
LGBTQ person should have to hear such disdain and hateful 
rhetoric from a public official who is elected to represent 
them.�

Time Out Youth, founded in the early 1990s, is a support, 
services and advocacy organization for LGBT youth ages 13-23.

Bentley added, �There are young people who are victims of 
depression and even suicide because of hateful slurs and 
comments like that of Commissioner James. Elected leaders are 
expected to be positive role models for our youth. We need to 
hold Commissioner James accountable for his actions.�

Campus Pride, a national organization for LGBT college students, 
released comments in the same statement.

�Commissioner Bill James crossed the line with his anti-LGBT 
remarks. Once again, he has made a desperate bid for attention 
in a public board meeting at the price of others,� said Campus 
Pride Executive Director Shane Windmeyer. �More and more, fair 
minded citizens believe that there�s no place for this kind of 
bigotry. Commissioner James needs to apologize to Commissioner 
Leake for his comments and we demand an immediate reprimand for 
his abhorrent actions at the public meeting.�

Windmeyer said the repercussions of anti-gay language toward 
LGBT youth �are immeasurable.� He said Mecklenburg County and 
Charlotte �deserve public officials who can show a modicum of 
respect for the office they hold and demonstrate civility for 
all people in public discourse.�

Bentley�s and Windmeyer�s organizations are demanding an 
immediate reprimand of James by the Mecklenburg County Board of 
Commissioners.

The controversy surroundings James� comments has continued 
throughout the week as the GOP commissioner told media he would 
not apologize for his remarks. In a statement emailed to 
Charlotte Observer editorial staff, James said he was simply 
asking Leake to clarify her statements about her son, that his 
comments weren�t meant to be derogatory and that �homo� was a 
slang word he used when growing up.

�People can believe whatever they want, they can believe in the 
tooth fairy and legend of Atlantis,� James said. �I don�t 
determine what I do based on what people think. I determine it 
based on what I did and what I did was I asked a question and 
that question doesn�t deserve or require an apology.�

Commission Chair Jennifer Roberts told Q-Notes that reprimand is 
an option on the table, although she�s uncertain what that might 
look like.

�I�m not sure what real disciplinary action we could take � what 
I think we can do is some kind of reprimand,� she said. �I�ve 
got to think about the terminology to be used. We can make some 
kind of statement that clearly indicates this type of behavior � 
in terms of calling names in the public, on the microphone after 
a fellow commissioner has been so passionate and emotional � is 
inappropriate and sets a bad example and we will not tolerate 
it. That is the kind of thing we can do.�

Roberts added, �There are other terms � rebuke, reprimand. I�m 
not sure calling it something different has any different, 
practical effect.�

In an email to a Charlotte resident, James made the argument 
that homosexual behavior was still illegal, and that police are 
�de-infesting� areas where gays congregate.

James wrote: �Homosexual conduct is illegal in NC (even after 
Lawrence V Texas). We arrest 250 homosexuals each year in 
Mecklenburg alone for either a �crime against nature� or 
�solicitation of a crime against nature�. Unlike prostitution 
(exchanging money), even suggesting homosexual sex is a criminal 
offense in NC. If we were all that �progressive� would we be 
arresting 250 homosexuals a year? Setting up sting operations to 
de-infest areas where they congregate? Point is, if you want to 
delude yourself that homosexual conduct is �ok� go ahead. The 
law, the police and the DA however have a different view.�

The Charlotte resident, who admits his initial email to James 
was a bit harsh, was shocked to see the commissioner�s response.

�I know my original e mail was harsh, but it was in no way 
threatening � I find his abusive, threatening, and ignorant,� 
the resident said in an email to Q-Notes.

Q-Notes asked James about his use of the word �de-infest� and if 
he saw how it might be offensive to LGBT people.

James responded: �I think that if you�re someone who is 
homosexual and you believe that you are born that way and have 
every right to engage in that behavior, I think the offensive 
thing, I would surmise, is not the word �infest� or �de-infest� 
but the fact that the police are actually doing the sting 
operations. We can parse words � what phrase should I have used? 
But the central question for most people is not what particular 
term got used but whether the action was occurring. Was I 
accurate in saying there are these sting operations going on and 
those sting operations � whatever term you want to use � target 
homosexual men? That is why the county took and spent 
significant amounts of money to rework the park to take out 
certain landscaping things to prevent, once the sting operations 
cleared them out, prevent them from re-congregating � or re-
infesting if you use my original term.�

James said he is a proponent of rigorous debate, but thinks LGBT 
rights opponents are �dancing around the subject� of the law.

�When someone trots out Lawrence v. Texas, I trot out the arrest 
statistics,� he said. �I say if Lawrence v. Texas is the law of 
the land, why are there all these arrests? And that ends the 
discussion usually.�

The Supreme Court�s decision in Lawrence v. Texas (2003) struck 
down the use of �crimes against nature� laws to prosecute 
private sexual behavior between consenting adults, although it 
is still used in cases involving public sex, prostitution, child 
abuse and domestic violence, rape and bestiality. The �crimes 
against nature� law remains on the books in North Carolina and, 
despite the 2003 Supreme Court decision, has been incorrectly 
used to charge consenting adults engaging in private, sexual 
behavior.