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Gay rights activists are planning a protest against Vallejo, California mayor Osby Davis after he called gays "sinful" in a interview with the New York Times. Davis defeated openly gay candidate Gary Cloutier by just two votes to take the post of mayor in Vallejo in 2007.
Gay rights activists are planning a protest against Vallejo, California mayor Osby Davis after he called gays "sinful" in a interview with the New York Times.
Mayor Osby Davis told the New York Times gays are "committing sin and that sin will keep them out of heaven. But you don't hate the person. You hate the sin that they commit." The New York Times quoted Davis as part of an article titled "Faith and Tolerance Collide in Vallejo," which explores rising tensions in the city between recent gay and lesbian transplants and evangelical Christians.
Davis defeated openly gay candidate Gary Cloutier by just two votes to take the post of mayor in Vallejo in 2007. Cloutier said the Vallejo city council is rife with anti-gay sentiment and he has repeatedly been introduced as "a gay" in council meetings.
Davis later apologized for the comments in a press statement, saying his words were taken out of context. "I have worked hard to unite Vallejo and I will continue to do so. To those I have offended by my comments, I apologize... I care for the entire community and my desire is to build consensus on our diversity. Let me be clear, I have and will stand against hatred, discrimination and divisiveness wherever they exist."
Bay activist and former planning commissioner Charles Legalos is pushing for the mayor's censure over his statement to the New York Times. "His comments were completely out of line," Legalos told the Oakland Tribune. "They have no place coming from a city official."
Openly gay Catholic priest Lou Bordisso, a former school board candidate, is planning a protest on Dec. 1 against Davis in front of City Hall. Bordisso told the New York Times he believes local evangelical Christians "have a hidden agenda to impose their particular version of Christianity on the citizens of Vallejo."
"The mayor's comments were of a theological nature and he was acting in his capacity as mayor and that's completely unacceptable," Bordisso said, according to Fox40.com. "There needs to be a separation of church and state."
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