By Brody Levesque (Bethesda, Maryland) Mar 27 | The City of Gainesville, Florida is preparing for an elections run-off for the office of mayor. Gainesville City Commissioner, Craig Lowe, after having won first place in a five-way race, will continue on to a runoff election on April 13th.
Commissioner Lowe, who is openly Gay, has wryly noted that this campaign season has been plagued by people whom he describes as;
“...want[ing] to drive a wedge in the political community.” He has faced a slew of personal attacks, mostly pertaining to his sexual orientation. “None of this would come up without the attacks,” Lowe said. “There’s no reason for it.”
One of the most glaring examples were fliers distributed across the city claiming that the Commissioner was directly responsible for allowing men in women’s restrooms. The fliers purported to be sponsored by “concerned citizens of Gainesville.” Another, attempted to mimic one flier from his campaign. The pink flier mockingly advocated for the support of a “gay agenda.”
More recently, the Dove World Outreach Center, a local church known for its controversial stances on Islam and homosexuality, has made it clear it will not support nor tolerate Lowe as an openly gay mayor.
Lowe was first elected to represent the 4th District in the Gainesville City Commission in 2003 when the commission was expanded to include seven members. Lowe was re-elected in 2004 and 2007. During his near-seven-year tenure on the commission, Lowe has consistently been an outspoken supporter for equal opportunities for all of Gainesville's citizens which includes the student body, faculty & staff of the University of Florida which is located squarely in the midst of the city. UF Students have actively campaigned and worked for Lowe's campaign to become the city's mayor. The University's newspaper, The Independent Florida Alligator, reported:
More recently, the Dove World Outreach Center, a local church known for its controversial stances on Islam and homosexuality, has made it clear it will not support nor tolerate Lowe as an openly gay mayor.
Lowe was first elected to represent the 4th District in the Gainesville City Commission in 2003 when the commission was expanded to include seven members. Lowe was re-elected in 2004 and 2007. During his near-seven-year tenure on the commission, Lowe has consistently been an outspoken supporter for equal opportunities for all of Gainesville's citizens which includes the student body, faculty & staff of the University of Florida which is located squarely in the midst of the city. UF Students have actively campaigned and worked for Lowe's campaign to become the city's mayor. The University's newspaper, The Independent Florida Alligator, reported:
In a video that was originally posted on YouTube, Wayne Sapp, a pastor with the Dove World Outreach Center, made the case that the city of Gainesville cannot afford to have a gay mayor.
“Here in Gainesville, they’re getting ready to have a run-off election between two candidates, and one of them is openly a homo, gay, fag — whatever you want to call him,” Sapp said. “We got one running for mayor of Gainesville, trying to convert Gainesville into Homoville. We can’t have it. “
“We feel it’s our obligation to speak out that homosexuality is an unacceptable lifestyle,” said the Rev. Terry Jones, the church’s senior pastor.
According to Jones, all videos put online that feature Pastor Sapp or himself have been endorsed and approved by the Dove World Outreach Center church. The video was later removed for violating YouTube's terms of service.
According to legal experts, statements such as those could infringe upon Section 501c3 of the IRS tax code, which regulates political involvement by religious groups. Mike Dobzinski, the IRS spokesman for the state of Florida, could not comment on the church’s specific case but did note that any political participation by a religious organization may jeopardise a church’s tax-exempt status.
The Gainesville mayoral race has attracted considerable national attention attention in the LGBT media and especially in the blogosphere. Prominent LGBT Advocacy and News website, The Bilerico Project's Deputy Editor, Waymon Hudson, has been covering the race since the beginning. In an Op-Ed published today Hudson said:
"I refuse to let these nasty attacks and the people behind them win. We can rally behind a good candidate and help him prevail so we can protect the human rights ordinance and the large LGBT community there. A Lowe victory would also have a huge impact on the young people attending the University of Florida in Gainesville, helping create an atmosphere of acceptance and equality for a whole new generation."
Hudson on the video, released by Pastor Wayne Sapp that rails against Commissioner Lowe personally and attacks him politically as well, notes:
"Well the pastor of Dove Ministries has released a video ranting against Craig Lowe and the LGBT community in general. It's painful to sit through..."
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