Comments on: New era begins in Ft. Lauderdale

By: Jonathan in SF

Jonathan in SF — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 01:08:13 +0000

Naugle was a blowhard, and Fort Lauderdale is much better off without him.

I used to live there, it was a different place then, homicidal white trash thugs, mafia run gay bars, and frequent robberies and murders outside of them, an extremely hostile police force with further victimized people after being assaulted and mugged, it was a horrible place.

Twenty years later – Naugle is gone, and the last vestige of the homophobic south is gone from Ft Lauderdale. My sister lives there, and I love to visit now. She has some of the nicest gay friends, I have a great time, and it’s well worth going – to board a cruise, or just to go out in the city. It has completely changed.

I would definitely recommend it for gay tourists.

By: Dick in Florida

Dick in Florida — Sat, 21 Mar 2009 20:28:38 +0000

Thanks Michael; come back often.
Toronto is one of my favorite “gay friendly” cities as well!

By: Michael

Michael — Sat, 21 Mar 2009 15:48:26 +0000

I agree with Dick/Florida.

I have spent sevaral holidays in different hotels/motels (gay & straight) in Ft. Lauderdale and have always thought the people/service were friendly/generous. I enjoy the inclusion of old/young, gay/straight.

I think this change is a great thing for the city.

Michael / Toronto

By: Dick in Florida

Dick in Florida — Sat, 21 Mar 2009 14:39:51 +0000

Fort Lauderdale is a great destination for GLBT tourists. Naugle was in no way indicative of the community in general. The only reason he was elected so many times it that Mayors have no real power here; it is the city commissioners and the city manager that run the city. All the Mayor has is a soap box and he used it to fuel his right wing bigotry. He was condemned by the other commissioners and area political leaders. The sad thing is approximately 10 percent of the people even bother to vote in the Mayoral election; lucky for Naugle he could not run again. If he had, this time people were fed up and he would have been run out of office. If you say you stay away from Ft Lauderdale because of something Naugle said, then you are letting him WIN. That’s what he wanted. That is a short sighted approach and not well thought out. We need to continue to support the many, many gay businesses here in Fort Lauderdale who continue to thrive because of the wonderful accepting environment of this diverse city!

By: LOrion

LOrion — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 15:26:54 +0000

But you should also have reported, that in the Ft. Lauderdale suburb of Oakland Park. The person receiving 65% of the vote for new city commissioner is an openly gay married man, Anthony Niedwiecki, who will be Mayor next year.
Here is how they did it. (both of the couple ran the campaign, and he was supported by Victory Fund, eventually.)
bilerico.com/2009/03/out_proud_and_in_elected_office.php

By: knas

knas — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 14:15:21 +0000

Wimsy: I just don’t leave New England.

By: Wimsy

Wimsy — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 13:30:21 +0000

We stopped going to Lauderdale and won’t go back, even though the bigot is not longer mayor. By electing him, the people of Lauderdale demonstrated that they don’t want my business, so I’ll spend my money elsewhere. Permanently.

By: Frankly

Frankly — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 19:35:42 +0000

Oh Gee. I am so glad after twenty years of increasing gay tourism that we are getting a new mayor whom we are not sure of. I am glad the at the more than one-billion dollars were spent in FTL. I am so glad that the gay community actually stood together and boycotted and marched.

Oh, that’s right. We and our leadership did nothing.