Memphis City Councilwoman threatened for supporting gay rights

dreadgeek · 07-30-2010, 12:15 PM

So now even *supporting* gay rights can make your life dangerous even if you aren't gay yourself.

From HuffPo:

Janis Fullilove, a councilwoman in Memphis, Tenn., received death threats Tuesday over her support of protection for gays working in city government.

Fullilove said that she received four threatening calls that referred to her support over the non-discrimination ordinance and also found a dead cat on her lawn.

Police have said the calls, which Fullilove said had threatened to kill her, were serious enough in nature for them to place officers on patrol by her house for protection.

Following the incident, Fullilove contacted Jonathan Cole of the Tennessee Equality Project, who spoke to reporters.

"If a city councilwoman -- a prominent person in city government -- can experience this kind of threat and intimidation, what about the individual employees who work for the city who may be work for sanitation, or police or fire?" Said Cole.
But the threats have not been enough to sway her stance on the issue.

"Her position is unchanged," said Cole.

Full-article here

On a different note, I am proud of both Fullilove and Sherrod for standing up to bigots. Black women have rocked the news cycle this last week.

Nat · 07-30-2010, 09:18 PM

She so rocks.

Thank you for posting this.

07-30-2010, 12:15 PM	#1
dreadgeek Power Femme How Do You Identify?: Cinnamon spiced, caramel colored, power-femme Preferred Pronoun?: She Relationship Status: Married to a wonderful horse girl Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: Lat: 45.60 Lon: -122.60 Posts: 1,733 My Photo Gallery Thanks: 1,132 Thanked 6,844 Times in 1,493 Posts Rep Power: 21474852	Memphis City Councilwoman threatened for supporting gay rights So now even supporting gay rights can make your life dangerous even if you aren't gay yourself. From HuffPo: Janis Fullilove, a councilwoman in Memphis, Tenn., received death threats Tuesday over her support of protection for gays working in city government. Fullilove said that she received four threatening calls that referred to her support over the non-discrimination ordinance and also found a dead cat on her lawn. Police have said the calls, which Fullilove said had threatened to kill her, were serious enough in nature for them to place officers on patrol by her house for protection. Following the incident, Fullilove contacted Jonathan Cole of the Tennessee Equality Project, who spoke to reporters. "If a city councilwoman -- a prominent person in city government -- can experience this kind of threat and intimidation, what about the individual employees who work for the city who may be work for sanitation, or police or fire?" Said Cole. But the threats have not been enough to sway her stance on the issue. "Her position is unchanged," said Cole. Full-article here On a different note, I am proud of both Fullilove and Sherrod for standing up to bigots. Black women have rocked the news cycle this last week. __________________ Proud member of the reality-based community. "People on the side of The People always ended up disappointed, in any case. They found that The People tended not to be grateful or appreciative or forward-thinking or obedient. The People tended to be small-minded and conservative and not very clever and were even distrustful of cleverness. And so, the children of the revolution were faced with the age-old problem: it wasn’t that you had the wrong kind of government, which was obvious, but that you had the wrong kind of people. As soon as you saw people as things to be measured, they didn’t measure up." (Terry Pratchett)

07-30-2010, 09:18 PM	#2
Nat Senior Member How Do You Identify?: bigender Preferred Pronoun?: whatevs Relationship Status: in a relationship Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: Tx Posts: 3,535 My Photo Gallery Thanks: 11,042 Thanked 13,962 Times in 2,589 Posts Rep Power: 21474855	She so rocks. Thank you for posting this. __________________ I'm a fountain of blood. In the shape of a girl. - Bjork What is to give light must endure burning. -Viktor Frankl