Kriseman, Heller pull council endorsement over anti-gay remarks

Democratic state Reps. Richard Kriseman and Bill Heller of St. Petersburg have yanked their endorsements of St. Petersburg City Council candidate Gershom Faulkner (pictured) following comments Faulkner made to a gay and lesbian political group that were seen as homophobic.

Faulkner, a Democrat running for the nonpartisan council in District 7, told members of the Pinellas Stonewall Democrats at a candidate interview last month that being gay was a "choice,''and that he could "not support the gay lifestyle'' because of his religious beliefs, according to people who attended the meeting.

"We were taken aback by his responses,'' said Rick Boylan, the president of the Pinellas gay and lesbian rights group. "Here’s a Democrat, and we’re getting answers that seem like he’s a right-wing Republican.''

When reached by The Buzz, Faulker did not dispute Boylan's recollection of the meeting (Faulkner also said he supports a proposed ban on gay marriages and opposes adoption rights for same-sex partners). However, he said he did say then, and maintained on Wednesday, that he is willing to learn more about gay rights issues and open to changing his opinions.

"I'm not drawing a line in the sand and saying I can't work with you," said Faulkner, 36, the director of outreach for U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor, D-Tampa. "A lot of my beliefs are religious beliefs. But I also believe in being fair and hearing both sides. My religious beliefs won’t hamper that."

Faulkner, an ex-Marine who is running against local neighborhood association president Wengay Newton, is running for the City Council seat being vacated by Rene Flowers.

UPDATE From Wednesday's story:

Wengay Newton: "I've been through discrimination. I think that persecution is wrong. If there's something wrong, that's between them and God and not between me as a candidate and them as a person."

Rick Kriseman: "I still believe that Gershom's the best candidate. I think he'll make a good council member. I'm with him on the majority of issues. But his stances on these issues trouble me."

Bill Heller:  "I cannot appreciate any kind of discrimination against any kind of group."

Comments

Its sad that someone is going to remove their endorsement over religious beliefs.

[Lee]

I am glad to see there are indeed politicians willing to pull endorsements. The government is to be in support of ALL people. It is not a church, religious beliefs should not influence how government is run.

[Bill]

I'm glad to see people willing to stand up to politicians who think their religious beliefs give them the right to make public policy based upon those beliefs.

"Here’s a Democrat, and we’re getting answers that seem like he’s a right-wing Republican.''

Rick, get a clue. The black community in general, and the black religious crowd specifically, are NOT supportive of the GLBT community. This has nothing to do with the (D) after anyone's name, but more with where they are on Sunday morning. And if you don't understand the power of the Sunday morning pull within the black community, you've been living under a rock.

Didn't you think it was funny when the Black churches joined the Reps in condemning gay marriage? You didn't notice the lack of support from the black community? You may be surprised Rick, but if so, you just haven't been paying attention.

[Frank]

Please call Kathy Castor's office today and ask why Gershom Faulkner is the Director of Outreach for her office. I support Kathy Castor and am beyond puzzled as to why someone like him is not simply a member of her staff but a DIRECTOR of an important position.

at least he is honest -

funny how people scream that one's religious preference should not interefere with public policy - but have no problem advocating a pro-gay public policy agenda.

Hey Rick Boylan,

The "usual" answers you get from Democrats are pandering to you for votes. At least Faulkner was honest on where he stands.

You think Hillary gives 2 $hits about gay issues? It just makes a nice photo op for campaign ads in the Village

[The Monolith]

2:29, the prominent faces on anti-gay ballot initiatives across the country are almost exclusively white. If you've got a beef with the black community, air it, but don't generalize an entire community based on this knucklehead. You can point to countless white politicians/clergy who detest gays and lesbians, but I doubt you would ask, Why is it the white community hates gays so?

[Susan S]

2:29pm,
Back in the old days, I bet a lot of people felt the same way about civil rights for blacks. I'm surprised Gershom isn't more sympathetic to to discrimination when it comes to other minorities.

And this has everything to do with having a "D" by his name. Our party is the party of tolerance.

2:44 interesting.

But, I'll offer you an alternative perspective. I am an Episcopalian, and have been watching the worldwide debate on admittance of gay clergy into the church.

Many American diocese are threatening to leave the traditional Canterbury-based vhurch which has allowed gay clergy...

In favor of the dioceses in Africa and Latin America, who oppose gay clergy and ministry.

Susan S,

If you're party is so tolerant, why is one of your sitting US Senators a former member of the Klan?

Just goes to show how intolerant democrats have become. What a shame.

2:47 - Key word is "former." Byrd has since apologized for his past decisions.

Funny thing is that current members of the Klan's successor (CCC - Council of Conservative Citizens) are members of the Republican Party. (Trent Lott, #2 in the Senate GOP, and MS Governor Haley Barbour, are the highest ranking example.)

[Robert]

I think the whole point is missing in these posts. The district that Gershom would be representing is St. Pete's heaviest gay & lesbian district -- a place where people have put their blood, sweat, and tears into houses, stores, development. It's where the largest gay pride event in the southeast is held.

If this man will only represent the people in his district with whom his religious convictions agree, then he needs to weed out the adulterers, the divorced, the criminal, and so on. We would not tolerate that. But from these comments, we give him a wide berth to discriminate against those he is suppose to represent just because his religion tells him they're sinners.

Heh, we're all sinners. Who's left to represent, Gershom?

has Teddy Kennedy ever apologized for vehicular homicide?

has the Democratic Party ever apologized for seceding from the union? dropping the a-bomb? waging war in Vietnam? any other anti-liberal activities it has perpetuated over the decades?

Jimmy Carter is an anti-semite. where's his apology?

[Susan S]

3:08pm,
That is absurd. Just because Jimmy Carter supports fair treatment of the Palestinians, that doesn't make him an anti-Semite.

02:47 PM
the key word is "former"
all of the GOP are Klan lovers

Adam and Times folks:

Why did you sit on this for so long? This is pretty old news. Also, you only call a person an ex-Marine if they were other-than-honorably discharged. In all other circumstances, the person is a "former Marine."

funny, because I seem to remember it was a GOP president who used the naitonal guard to enforce the brown v board ruling

Maybe Gershom should stick to preaching instead of public service.

Initially I had hopes that Gershom- a young guy- would be a leader in a different mold. God knows, the black community needs strong leaders and role models. But now I feel that he is just another politician, someone who will just walk in same footsteps of lackluster petty politics, making stupid mistakes, calculating he has nothing to lose by bashing gay people for their lifestyle. It's utterly disappointing and dispiriting to see a young person so misinformed and so close minded.

How exactly has Gershom tried to make amends to the gay community? Any letters, calls, meetings, apologies, actions? I have not heard a thing. How exactly has he demonstrated that he has reached out and that he has listened to anyone?

being gay is a bedroom choice, just as copulating with animals is a choice.

3:28 - Then you've haven't been listening.

[Susan S]

3:27pm,
The GOP of Brown vs. Board of Education is not the GOP of 2007.

3:51pm,
Your ignorance is astounding. Perhaps you should ask your gay friends and relatives if they enjoy being compared to "copulating animals."

and it was Dem Govs who used the state police to prohibit AA students from entering school

What idiot goes to the Stonewall Dems and says that? Really, his judgment and instincts say far worse things about him as a leader than about what he actually said.

Maybe it's time to re-think your little "Democrat" or "Right-wing Republican" labels...

Susan: "3:27pm,
The GOP of Brown vs. Board of Education is not the GOP of 2007"

SAYS WHO?? YOU????

Isn't that the very height of arrogance, conceit and self-importance?

[L. Ranger]

Hey, I got a great idea that would solve all this aingst over religion and politics. Only let athiests run for public office. if anyone has any moral convictions based on any religion then deny them the right to freely express their opinions in a public venue. If they disagree with such issues as whether or not homosexuallity is a personal choice or something else then they should be immediatly arrested for crimes against humanity. Man what a great country we would have then! A govt that answers to no higher authority than itself, no moral standards other than ones each individual sets for him or herself, the right to do whatever feels good for you regardless of how it affects others and the power to put anyone who disagress you in jail as a hatemonger. Sure sounds like utopia to me.....
To bad these ideas violate every thing our constituion stands for and would result in our countries total collaspe.... Imagin that

And it was a GOP President who finally pulled us out of the Democrat quagmire called Vietnam...

L. Ranger: there is nothing wrong with Religion. Moral convictions are good. They are the foundation of a person's life. However, when these things are used as an excuse to denigrate, discriminate or generally "put down" another person's lifestyle they lose their legitimacy. Then they become the tool of opression.

Being gay is not a choice. Being a religious bigot is.

3:19 really? What about tthe Klansman, Senator Byrd - a D if evet there was one.

Religion has nothing to do with this controversy. It is just about one man who does not feel gays are his equals.

How sad!. Faulkner and his ilk don't realize that in another day, the white gay might have been in the front of the bus while he stood in the back.

didnt some dimbulb racist say essentially the same thing about the races living together and going to school with each other, o, about fifty years ago!

HONESTLY!!

exactly how STUPID do some people have to be to believe that crap????

seems to me that some folks "religious beliefs" made it open season on balck folks not too long ago, didnt they?

[hoshi]

I am sorry that they pulled their endorsements but I am proud to be a fellow Christian sister with similar beliefs to someone who is so bold for God. The gay rights movement preaches tolerance and understanding but it is only as long as we are the tolerant and understanding of their cause. They are not tolerant of our christian beliefs at all. I am fortunate to have a gay friend who is very respectful of my spiritual makeup and never pressures me to feel any other way. Keep on keeping on and please do not buckle under the pressure. We need you as a Christian brother more than we need you as a butt kissing politican who doesn't even care about the American citizen.

[Matt]

First, it is a CHOICE. Secondly, because a candidate cannot personally support the homosexual and lesbian lifestyle should not disqualify them from public service. It seems those who want him to want him to support a "special interest"??

I know this is going to shock the living crap out of you folks. But there are a whole lot of Christians, who just happen to be Democrats. To yank your “Big Tent, All-inclusive, Democratic support” because he doesn’t “believe” in the gay lifestyle is as hypocritical as any Right-wing Republicans actions to date.

Attacking people – because they disagree with your pro-homosexuality views – is no different that Bush asserting that those who disagree with his Iraq policy are un-American.

Why don’t you ask him if he supports strong “Anti-Discrimination Laws”… you freaking morons? That’s the real issue.

"It is not a church, religious beliefs should not influence how government is run."

Correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't most of the people who came to the new world come because of freedom of religion? So good or bad, religion does influence how government as well as life is run!

[Bill]

Being Gay isn't a choice?

Soon we'll say criminality isn't a choice. That's not equating criminality and homesexuality, it's only pointing to behavior. I also think human reproduction is a choice.

I can understand not supporting the gay lifestyle because it's unproductive, I also see no reason to support selfish heterosexuals who are too concerned about their own well-being to bother to reproduce.

these comments are considered "anti-gay"? geez - the gay folks are a little sensitive.

since someone's "gayness" drives their politics why is it so bad for a religious person to express their religious and political views - once again the left shutting down ideas they don't like.

Susan S, my gay friends, relatives, and colleagues have a collection of gay porn that would make barney frank blush. I would defend my gay friends from abuse and their right to do as they wish in their bedrooms but would never defend their wishes to institutionalize gay marriage for they have demonstrated to me that it is a sexual choice.
max h.

[Gina]

Oh no. He dared to touch the sacred cow(gays). He must perish now.

Had some gay candidate made some anti-Christian comment no one would have blinked an eye.

The Hypersensitive gay mafia are truly a whiny bunch.

*rolls eyes*

Being Gay isn't a choice?

That's not what Ellen Degeneris says. She pissed the entire LPGABLTX club off when she openly stated that "she trid both sexes and CHOSE to be gay"

I use to be gay, but I quit because it was a pain in the a**.

[Publius]

Well 4:29 and others, you are correct that most of the people who came to the new world of America were escaping religious intolerance. However you are missing the key concept.

They were escaping INTOLERENCE.

They didn’t come here because they could not practice christianity in their homes in Europe. They came here because they could not practice their particular brand of christianity.

The key word that you, along with the rest of the intolerant so-called christian right, need to focus on is FREEDOM. That is what makes this country great. Look it up in the dictionary, you may learn something.

“… being gay was a "choice,'' and that he could "not support the gay lifestyle''

For that; Rick Kriseman and Bill Heller pull their endorsement?

Wasn’t this the same Rick Kriseman that supported Rick “I Hate Gays” Baker lo those many years?

I guess it truly is “All about the quan” for you aye RK?

[Publius]

Any one of you "choice" believers could have some tiny change made in your brain chemestry and you to would be compelled to make that same choice.

Homosexuality is not a choice anymore than your hair color or skin color was when you were born.

I know that some of you faith only people may not get that, but its called science. It's tied to reason. But then again those words do not mean anything to you faith-based folks.

Good call “Publius”… I can’t wait until we give pedophiles the “FREEDOM” to practice their “NON-CHOICE” lifestyle.

I afraid it is YOU, Publius, that has missed the point. Until such time that two gay men or two gay women can conceive “on their own” (and therefore sustain the existence of the species) a child… it is un-natural behavior. Look it up in the Bible. Perhaps it is YOU that will learn something.

This is too easy...

Any one of you "gay" believers could have some tiny change made in your brain chemestry and you to would be compelled to live natural.

Homosexuality is an act of choice, just like your hair color or skin color (suntan) is.

I know that some of you gay people may not get that, but its called natural. It's tied to reason. But then again those words do not mean anything to you gay-based folks.

... idiot

[R. Fix]

People, please stick to the real issues in this article. This is a freedom of speech issue. Mr. Gershom is exercising his constitutional rights to express his beliefs and convictions in a public forum. If you disagree with him then dont vote for him. He said nothing that denies anybody elses rights and neither did he utter any words that could qualify as hate speech.
The only hate and intolerance being perpurtrated here is aimed at Mr. Gershom and is coming from special interest groups that are demanding tolerance but have none for others with a differnt opinion than theirs'.
Our politcal system was set up to keep minority special interest groups from intimidating and ruling over majority concensus. Most of the comments here are a shame and a testament as to how far distant the political system we have today has digressed from the one our founding fathers bled and died for, so that we who are alive today might have the freedom to persue religious beliefs, and the rights to express our beliefs publically without fear of retribution, legal or political.
if any apologies are in order then it should be to Mr. Gershom, not those who are working to strip us of our constitutional rights to bear witness.