FORT LAUDERDALE, FLA. - An adult book collection has caused turmoil between Mayor Jim Naugle and the gays who reside in this Florida vacation town. The South Florida Sun-Sentinel reports that Naugle went on the offensive after city commissioners approved a request that a Stonewall archive be kept on city property.
Naugle was quoted as saying he doesn't use the term "gay" but uses "homosexual" because gay people are "unhappy." Additionally, he claims to like a recent proposal for a "single-occupancy robotic toilet," which has a time limit, because it would keep men from having sex there. He claims this is an issue in other Fort Lauderdale public places.
After these comments were published in the Sun-Sentinel, e-mails began pouring into city hall demanding that Naugle be reprimanded and that he apologize publicly for the remarks.
"I had no idea this was what the homosexual book collection was all about," Naugle said, while looking over some nude gay magazines that are to be part of the library. "It's a shame it had to come out during this whole toilet controversy. They'll think it's some anti-gay thing — um, anti-homosexual."
Some of the titles on the proposed list include 100 Percent Beef, Arab Slave Boys, and Lesbian Bedtime Stories.
Naugle refused to apologize for his remarks, but said, "If I've learned one thing through this, it's that there are a lot of happy homosexuals in Fort Lauderdale."
Gay activists arranged a town hall meeting for July 11 at the Gay and Lesbian Community Center.
