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Politics : Politics for Pros- moderated -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: DMaA who wrote (211714)	7/13/2007 5:45:22 PM
From: goldworldnet	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 793794

Fort Lauderdale OK's city home for gay library BY ANI MARTINEZ Fort Lauderdale Mayor Jim Naugle said a gay-interest library seeking space in a city building may include ''hard-core'' pornographic material. ''When I showed the materials to the city attorney, he said it was likely hard-core pornography,'' Naugle said at Tuesday's City Commission meeting. ``I feel troubled a city building would be housing materials with content we have arrested people for in the past.'' He declined to specify the titles he was referring to. And when when he asked City Attorney Harry Stewart to speak up at the meeting, Stewart declined. In the end, the commission voted 3-2 to allow the Stonewall Library to move into space in the city building at 1300 E. Sunrise Blvd., which also houses a Broward County Library branch. Commissioners Cindi Hutchinson, Carlton Moore and Charlotte Rodstrom voted for the agreement. Naugle and Commissioner Christine Teel voted against it. SPLIT ON DAIS ''I don't share the mayor's opinions on the gay community or his opinions on censorship,'' Rodstrom said. The Stonewall Library bills itself as one of the nation's largest collections of gay and lesbian literature. The vote followed recent tensions between the city's gay community and Naugle. Naugle sparked the controversy last week, telling the South Florida Sun-Sentinel that the city's purchase of pricey electronic toilets on the beach would prevent ``homosexual activity.'' Naugle's alleging that gay men frequent public bathrooms for sex, leading activists to send him real and virtual rolls of toilet paper. Besides the pornography, Naugle said there's no reason that so much public space should be devoted to a nonprofit organization when the state is asking cities to roll back taxes. The library's former home on North Andrews Avenue in Wilton Manors was purchased by developers. The site is slated for condominiums and an adjoining new facility for the Gay and Lesbian Community Center. ''The library came to us and said this space might be available,'' said Jack Rutland, Stonewall's director. COUNTY APPROVED Broward County leaders approved the move last month. The Stonewall Library annually draws about 9,000 users -- who must be 18 or older -- for reading and research. Stonewall has been seeking the right location for more than a year, and believes the 4,350 square feet at the library is a perfect fit. The move will be partially funded through the John C. Graves Charitable Trust, named after a late historian, writer and philanthropist in the gay community. miamiherald.com * * *