Councilmen Jeff Voigt Letter: “Ridgewood must embrace the LGBT community ”
Editors note: Did Jeff say “must embrace the LGBT community”, ie must seems to imply force ? Are we really going down this road ? Like I said before inclusion comes from how people treat each other ,not from phony pretenses.
Why not just pass a proclamation saying The Village of Ridgewood, during Gay Pride Month, celebrates all of our LBGTQ citizens, and fully supports their equal rights. Done, everyone happy. However, the cultural Marxists among the supporters really want more, and flying a flag is a useful psychological device in asserting power and how everyone should think. No shades of gray allowed,
As for Mt, Carmel, a nun in my daughters school flies the flag in front of her office. Don’t care, not my business. I think Mt. Carmel will simply stay out of the fray, especially as feelings may be mixed among the priests and elders of the Church.
Of course, the churches in town may be sorry at some point as the Cultural Marxist influence grows
Lot of truly dangerous people on that FB page. Challenge, as I did, you will get booted.
flying that flag opens the door for other groups. Imagine the KKK flag or the Nazi flag flying. How will you refuse those groups??
How about flying the Marxist Flag?
Would that be allowed?
How about flying the Jolly Roger on September 19th – “International Talk Like a Pirate Day”?
July is “Heterosexual Awareness Month”.
Will we be flying the Hetero Pride Flag in July?
Cultural Marxists? Over the top.
I think the flag crew are well meaning. They wast to be seen as great people standing up for rights.
Fly the flag on your own property. Try doing something for your cause, not just symbolism do you think that you are actually doing so ething to help the cause? I bet you shared the meme ” Bring our girls back” and thought that you changed the world.
nope not into #Hashtag evangelism
Seriously… what actually are the requirements to fly a flag on village property?
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Can any group petition the village?
Are there forms to fill out?
Are there specific requirements?
Is any flag allowed? Can any flag be turned down?
This is a serious question.
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Comparing a flag that represent acceptance to flags of groups that promoted hate is exactly why flying the Pride flag is probably a good thing. If you cannot see the difference in those symbols that is part of the problem.
And for those wanting a Heterosexual Awareness Month… Every Day is Heterosexual Awareness. You hold hands and kiss in the streets without incident. You are featured in most TV, Movies and Ads. You have not had to fight for rights to marry, to adopt, to not be fired for who you love. I am sure you a scared of other groups. But ultimately people are just doing their best to live happy lives in this world.
And no a flag alone will not change much. A conversation can. This is why I am perfectly fine with a flag going up in a town park. The more flags for causes the better. Let us talk about our differences and then learn how much we actually have in common. Maybe then we won’t need flags. PEACE.
May is International Masturbation Month. Why aren’t we hoisting a flag for that?? After all, we’re told, if you don’t love yourself, how can you love others?
FWIW, there actually is a Heterosexual Awareness Month – It Is July (out of curiosity, I looked it up).
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Just because it is not large and well known does not make it non-existent.
Gay pride month was originally not as large as it is today when it was first started.
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You talk about acceptance and then move to dismiss and diminish heterosexuals and their pride month…
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You talk about every day being Heterosexual Awareness and heterosexuals being able to hold hands, kiss in streets and being featured in TV movies and Ads but homosexuals need flags to promote awareness and help then fight their cause.
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But the reality is that homosexuals have the same rights as heterosexuals and arguably more (as in having flags flown for them and being actively promoted on a regular basis). Homosexuals can freely kiss and hold hands in the streets the same as heterosexuals with the same indifference shown to them by others as shown to heterosexuals doing the same – especially in Ridgewood.
Additionally, have you looked at TV, Movies and Ads lately? It is de rigueur to have at least one prominent homosexual in most every ad TV Show or movie and they are always represented as the better, smarter, stronger, more moral, etc. person. Your comment may have had weight 10 or 20 years ago but not today.
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Flying the Gay Pride flag in Ridgewood is nothing more than political bullying.
It is promoting division and differences rather than acceptance and unity.
You know it. I know it. Everyone knows it.
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PEACE
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The North American Man-Boy Love Association, or NAMBLA, will be thrilled to follow suit and get village approval for flying their flag on a content-neutral basis as soon as the six-color non-rainbow flag of Sodom and Gomorrah goes up the Village flagpole at Van Neste Square, thus setting the necessary precedent.
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Polygamy is a lifestyle. Sure, it might be a lifestyle that Mormons in Utah were obliged to give up in order to gain statehood, but hey!, times have changed and the time is right to liberate our polygamist fellow-citizens from their reality show prison and fly their flag high for a good month, or maybe two! We must accept polygamy as a legitimate lifestyle choice.
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Anyone who thinks they can explain the judicial test for determining if the Village will be acting within the constraints of the U.S. Constitution and the First Amendment thereto when it turns down NAMBLA’s or the polygamists’ petition to fly their flags in Van Neste Square will win the prize for legal contortion and flamboyant backflips. The truth is, it can’t be done, even if the brilliance of Village Attorney Matt Rogers is fully funded and engaged. This is settled, black letter Constitutional Law, folks!
If someone wants to start a campaign for flying a heterosexual flag in July I am with you. 2 things are sure though: LBGT will feel offended and VC won’t approve it and . Heterosexuals are not represented in this village. You either get on with the flow and turn into a hypocrite by accepting anything liberals bully you into or move out of the village. Welcome to the new Brooklyn.
I am concerned for the kids who nowadays are looking to do anything in order to fit in and look cool. What will the future generations look like? Sad.
To prevent potential future ruckus/bad feelings/bad press/waste of time and the endless vetting of requests, what if the council adopted an ordinance stating clearly that in the future no flag other than the American flag would be flown on municipal property–period? …including in June 2018. Governing bodies create laws in reaction to events all the time.
When will the six-color community sue to march under their own flag in the Ridgewood Fourth of July parade? Surely they can wedge their way in and avoid the “no politics” rule by exploiting the civil rights angle they continually (and illegitimately) push.
Letter: Ridgewood must embrace the LGBT community
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At last week’s Ridgewood Village Council meeting, there was a discussion on our village flying the gay pride flag. To say the least, the discussion was disappointing and was unfortunately pushed in the wrong direction — i.e. that the gay pride flag is political in nature and thus should not be flown on village property. This determination is based on village code 190-22, which prohibits signs of a political nature on village property. As part of my questioning, I asked our attorney if our flying the gay pride flag was against the law. His answer was no, it was not.
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Second, I mentioned I had trouble with how flying the flag connoted anything of a political nature. The gay pride flag signifies people celebrating the human spirit, with its colors specifically identifying life, healing, sunlight, nature, serenity and spirit. Where is the politics in this? Needless to say, I expressed my concern over the legal interpretation and supported Ridgewood flying the gay pride flag.
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It is our responsibility as an accepting and forward-thinking community to go the extra mile with groups that are feeling marginalized — this goes for race, religion, gender and sexual orientation. We need to be more outwardly accepting of others we might view as different. In actuality, as a country, we are able to thrive when we embrace our differences. These differences allow us to innovate, and understand how to work and get along with others. Differences provide us with unique perspectives and allow us to grow as human beings.
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I myself have a gay brother whom I admire, respect and love. I feel the same about his partner. They in turn love my wife, our children and me. They are part of our family, and we would be less if they were not.
We as a country and community cannot continue to marginalize groups and not have it affect us in a deleterious manner. By our not flying the pride flag, we are essentially saying the LGBT community does not matter. It is OK for Ridgewood to paint a blue line down our main thoroughfare celebrating our police force and not OK for us to fly the gay pride flag? As politicians, our job is to be inclusive and to help those who feel marginalized. Last Thursday, we failed at that.
Ridgewood needs to fly the gay pride flag to demonstrate that while we may be different from each other, we can respect those differences and embrace them. It is a message that Ridgewood should rally around.
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Jeff Voigt
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Ridgewood, May 9
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The writer is a councilman in Ridgewood.
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Originally Published 3:10 p.m. ET May 9, 2017
If someone wants to start a campaign for flying a heterosexual flag in July I am with you. 2 things are sure though: LBGT will feel offended and VC won’t approve it
This is a good idea.
The rejection will result in a lawsuit which will cost the village lots of money and they will eventually lose and be forced to fly the hetero flag.
However, the big “win” is that it will open the floodgates for every group to be able to fly their flag in the village.
(Maybe the Steelers guys should get on this!)
9:05. Are you the arbitrator of flags? You alone decide what is inclusive and what is not?
You do not speak for me. You can fly 10 rainbow flags, wear one as a cape. You should not push your opinion on others. People can disagree without being called names.
Can someone explain to me how can a group be considered “marginalized” when they can get anything they want, when they want it, when they have the support of any politician, and when they can bully you into oblivion for expressing an opinion against their agenda?
I can’t believe I stained my lawn with his sign during last elections.
The New Jersey Tea Party Coalition has marched in the Ridgewood Fourth of July Parade every year for at least the last five years. The administrators of the parade would not have permitted this without having determined in advance that the NJTPC, in so marching, is not acting to promote a political agenda. Councilman Voigt has determined in his infinite wisdom that the six-color crowd is not acting politically when it raises its flag on village property. (Presumably his next move will be to try and force the parade committee to allow the six-color crowd to march in support of their chosen lifestyle in the parade.) Based on Councilman Voigt’s logic, should we not expect him to vote “yes” when the NJTPC petitions the council to permit its flag to be raised and displayed all day every day during Tea Party Pride Month?
Bruce, Bruce, Bruce, Bruce and myself all agree with 11:17am Bruce!
Wedge issue. Voigt just fed his council colleagues a cr** sandwich. They willingly ate it and will now need to live with the electoral consequences. Snap prediction: neither Knudsen nor Sedon will end up running for re-election. Four members of the Council just revealed themselves as soft-minded, and the fifth, a devious alinskyite and a dedicated Aronsohn-style progressive. What a disaster.
Hoorah for masturbation month, what will the flag look like?
Thank you @9:05. I agree completely.
Gay flag, Coexist flag, ISIS flag, Nazi flag, Peace flag, Confederate flag, Black power flag, Athiest flag – fly them all and let’s see how tolerant everyone is then. (As long as there is no Steeler flag, ha!)
Anyone who does not think this is political-check out the FB page of the woman who pushed for it here and in Glen Rock. Just a matter of time before Council starts judging which organization and candidates either fit or do not fit “Our Values”. San Francisco Board of Supervisors, here we come!
It doesn’t stop here. There is a petition circulating about raising the flag at village hall in addition to van neste. LBGT felt disrespected by mayor last night. This is madness. We are the laughing stock of NJ. Had I knownRidgewood is full of gays who impose their wishes at will I would have never moved here. Sigh.
Ben… just move
Mr Voigt:
Is what Ben just said true, and what is your reaction? If it is true, I really think it proves my point this is a cultural power grab, not a symbol for respect,
Jesuits of Fordham Stand Strong Against … Chick-fil-A?
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5/10/17 | Michael Matt
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The campus of the Jesuit-run Fordham University is at peace this week after having undergone a terrible ordeal last week that could have resulted in the establishment of a dangerous and subversive group being set up in the heart of one of America’s most venerable Catholic universities.
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Here’s how it went down.
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A Chick-fil-A restaurant was planning to set up shop at Fordham’s New York City campus. Can you believe it? And the fast-food chicken giant would have succeeded had it not been for Fordham’s rainbow-sashed crusaders who managed to step in at the last minute and save the day.
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As The Fordham Observer reports, thanks to the courage of the LGBTQ lobby (who didn’t allow fear of a fast-food restaurant stop them from standing up for peace, justice and the American way), other groups on campus soon discovered the will to fight. Everyone from the Commuter Students Association to the United Student Government leapt into action—led, of course, by the fearless campus’ Rainbow Alliance—to keep the pro-Christian marriage Chick-fil-A far away from Fordham. After all, there are young and impressionable kids on that campus!
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We can laugh about it now, of course, but for a while there it looked like a pro-marriage chicken sandwich seller was about to gain a foothold at one of our premier Catholic universities. Thank God, the Rainbow Alliance at Fordham found a way to alert the Jesuit brass to the fact that, back in 2012, Chick-fil-A president Dan Cathy had had the audacity to tell a Baptist newspaper that he believed in the biblical definition of marriage. The horror!
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Once that message went viral on campus, it was easy for the Jesuits to understand the urgency of the situation, and to do the right thing. “Get thee behind me, Chick-fil-A!”
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The Jesuits at Fordham…..
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(Excerpt) Read more at remnantnewspaper.com …
Hey 1:47 I have a suggestion…lets have a big carrot on the flag…for the “carrot snappers” lol
@9:05 you are misguided and have it totally wrong. Thank you @9:43. I agree completely.
Fearless 85-year-old says no to LGBT flag at church. Now the entire town is against her
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May 17, 2017 (MassResistance) —
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https://www.lifesitenews.com/opinion/elderly-woman-ignites-town-and-region-by-questioning-gay-flag-outside-churc?utm_content=buffer1a1c2
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An elderly woman in ultra-liberal Carlisle, Mass. had the nerve to publicly criticize the “gay” flag outside of a church in the center of town. She caused such an inflamed reaction that it was reported in Boston’s NBC-TV evening news. (See below.) But she’s not backing down — which inflames the leftist reactionaries even more!
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Sally Naumann, an 85-year-old resident of Carlisle and a longtime MassResistance activist, had had enough. She was very upset that the Unitarian Church in the center of town is flying a “gay” rainbow flag outside. She is distressed because people she knows have died of “gay”-related diseases. She strongly believes the homosexual lifestyle should not be promoted.
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Interestingly, for nearly 25 years Sally and her husband had been members of that Unitarian Church in Carlisle, and she was also co-chairman of the Parish Committee. But a few years ago, while speaking at a Sunday service, she raised concerns about the church’s promotion of the homosexual lifestyle. For simply saying that, the church leaders declared her to be “unwelcoming”. After a “hearing”, Sally was banned from the church and told that if she came back they would call the police!
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Next to the Church’s big flag is a bowl where they gave out hundreds of smaller flags after Sally’s letter appeared. (But it was already empty when we got there.)
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Sally is a delightful lady, as well as fearless. In 2005, she went undercover at the homosexual GLSEN conference at Brookline High School. She picked up a copy of the extremely pornographic and disgusting “Little Black Book” that was being given to kids. It caused such outrage that even Gov. Mitt Romney went on television to distance his administration from it.
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A simple letter to the editor started a war in town!
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On April 28, 2017, Sally wrote a letter to the editor to the local Carlisle Mosquitonewspaper. They published it at the end of all the others, on page 22, near the back of the paper. Here’s what it said:
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To the Editor:
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One of the saddest vistas I know is that of the beautiful rainbow flying as a flag to welcome and encourage the extremely dangerous behavior of homosexuality. Each time I go through the center of my town of Carlisle, I see such a flag and my heart cries out—why, Why?
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Indeed, why is this flag being used to speak well of homosexuality and encourage the behavior? Where is the caring for people who for one reason or another have gotten into this behavior? And homosexuality is a behavior; no one is born homosexual.
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Where is the truth? Where is the help for such people? It seems they are only helped down the garden path to some of the worst diseases known to man. Just look at the Center for Disease Control and Prevention website for information as to how devastating homosexual behavior actually is. Then look at pfox.org for personal stories where ex-homosexuals speak out.
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Knowing how many have contracted HIV and AIDs and even died as a result of homosexual behavior leaves me wondering why people would promote such behavior–—let alone churches such as the Unitarian Church and the United Church of Christ.
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Sally J. Naumann
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It’s a very good letter. It’s very clear, straightforward, and succinct.
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Unhinged reaction to letter
Sally’s letter got attention, that’s for sure!
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In the next issue of the Carlisle Mosquito (May 5) there were nine angry letters attacking her (and none supporting her). Even by the low standards of a “liberal” town (that prides itself on being “upper class”), the response was pretty unhinged.
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There were the usual angry epithets: Sally’s letter was called “hate speech”, “disinformation”, “rancid”, and “ignorant” – etc.
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Several letter writers said that despite the First Amendment, Sally’s letter should not have been allowed to be printed. (This is a common totalitarian refrain of the Left.) Letter writers said that Sally’s letter might cause suicides or violence because of “the destructive, homophobic views represented in that letter.”
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One letter writer said Sally’s letter is bringing “fear” to the community and said that she is now locking the doors of her house. Some letters listed past acts of terrible violence that were likely caused by sentiments like Sally’s.
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And of course there’s the blatant hypocrisy: The same letters that said that Sally’s views should be excluded from the newspaper and not be tolerated, were then calling for a climate of “tolerance and inclusion.”
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Most of this is, on its face, irrational. That’s because Sally really got to them! The town’s liberals could not deal with Sally’s facts and logic. Instead, their letters were calculated to foment as much anger and hysteria as possible.
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The attacks on Sally continued in the May 12 issue, with seven more angry letters. Sally was called “homophobic”, “hateful”, “intolerant”, “prejudiced”, “libelous”, and “malicious”. Her views were compared to Vladimir Putin, Breitbart.com and Steve Bannon, Kellyanne Conway, and Nazi Germany. Whew! We can’t wait till next week.
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Scathing newspaper editorial against Sally
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In the May 5 issue of the newspaper, next to the letters, was a scathing editorial aimed at Sally and her letter. In particular, the editorial explored whether Sally’s facts and opinions should be banned from the newspaper in the future.
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Sadly, the editorial shows the level of nonsense and shallow thinking that America’s journalist class has lowered itself to. It stated that the newspaper’s staff “believes it is of supreme importance to be sensitive to the concerns of marginalized populations.” (Not conservatives, clearly.) It admitted that in past years the paper had run letters similar to Sally’s without a problem. But now the community must be protected from these views. That’s because, the editors say:
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“[T]here are times when a position becomes so repulsive it is no longer suitable for discussion, and perhaps advocacy of homosexuality as a sickness has migrated into that territory.”
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So the truth of the medical consequences has no real value. And the message is that anyone who agrees with Sally can forget writing any letters.
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Town’s liberals fighting Sally with more rainbow flags
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One of the letters in the paper was from a local moonbat political group saying that people should fight Sally by putting out rainbow flags everywhere in town. They announced they would be putting hundreds of small rainbow flags outside the Unitarian Church for locals to take. Within a few days, there were lots of rainbow flags across town.
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Make no mistake. This is a psychological strategy to make people in town feel that everything is overwhelmingly stacked in one direction – and any more “outbursts” like Sally’s are useless, and will be dealt with harshly.
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Sally didn’t care, though. She had made her point.
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NBC-TV in Boston jumps in — pays Sally an unannounced visit
Over the next week the hysteria over this continued to spread beyond Carlisle. On May 10, NBC-TV in Boston jumped in to cover this story.
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Not surprisingly, this was not a “friendly” interview from Sally’s standpoint. The television crew did not call Sally’s home first; they just showed up at her door unannounced. That has to be a pretty unnerving experience. But Sally took it all in stride, made her points very well, and stood her ground. After that, they interviewed local liberals.
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The TV reporter just showed up unannounced at Sally’s house with a camera crew and microphone.
That evening, here’s what was broadcast in metropolitan Boston and southern New Hampshire.
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WATCH VIDEO: BOSTON NBC-TV REPORT:
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NBC-Boston also highlighted this on their Facebook page;
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But also some silent support for Sally!
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There seems to be an undercurrent of support for Sally. Sally told us that when she went to the Post Office one day this week, she came out to find that someone had put some flowers in her car door handle.
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On Saturday, Sally received a handwritten letter in the mail:
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“Thanks for the courageous letter to the Mosquito. Having lived for 30 years in Carlisle and had two children go through the school system, I’m confident the push-back from the mentioned parties will be significant. Thankfully, we no longer live there.
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We have a feeling there will be more and more, now that Sally has publicly stood up!
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MassResistance comes to help out in Carlisle
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Because Sally’s been such a great activist over the years in such a weird town, we just couldn’t resist adding more to the “alternative” viewpoint. Since the church parishioners seemed just a tad uninformed about the health issues involved, we put a complimentary copy of our new book, “The Health Hazards of Homosexuality” on their doorstep.
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Before we left Carlisle, we noticed some “alternative” stickers had popped up around the town square! Maybe there is hope for diversity of opinion there, after all!
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Every little bit makes a difference
If Sally can do this much by herself, imagine what you can do! We hate to say this, but she has more courage than probably 90% of pro-family people. That’s got to change.
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Hopefuly, they’ll do some serious reading!
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The LGBT movement (and the Left in general) knows it cannot win through normal discourse and factual challenges. The dominance of their absurd ideology depends on intimidating everyone into cowering in fear and not speaking up. Every time you do it, it breaks it down a little more. Eventually their dominance will collapse. That’s what Sally has done in Carlisle, and that’s why they’re so angry.
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We happened to see these stickers on a phone pole and a trash can near the center of town. Looks like there’s more “diversity” than we thought.
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Sally told us that after this initial furor has died down, she plans to write another letter to the editor elaborating further on her points. That should be interesting. We’ll keep you posted!
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