Dear Dean,
Can I call you Dean? I hope so, because that is what I’m going to call you.
I hear that you are having a fundraiser for Charlie Crist March 19. That’s fine. You are entitled to support whomever you choose to support, as are the rest of us. I actually don’t have a problem with you supporting Charlie Crist. What I DO have a problem with is your reasoning behind your support of Crist over Nan Rich. You see Nan Rich has always supported marriage equality and equal rights for the LGBT community, something that your new-found savior has not. I acknowledge that people do evolve, and perhaps Charlie Crist has indeed evolved to realize that equality is for all. I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt. This letter, however, is not about Charlie Crist. This letter is about your comments. Remember saying this:
I know that everyone is saying why have you abandoned Nan Rich? I don’t think we have abandoned Nan,” Trantalis said. “She has been a longtime supporter of equal rights for the LGBT community and she is a great person. … There are some members of the gay community who have embraced Nan Rich’s campaign and I think that’s fine, but the reality is I don’t believe Nan has the ability to win statewide whereas I believe Charlie Crist has that ability…
Dean, my friend, what if the majority of society took that stance on gay marriage or equality for gays? What if we said, “well, we know that the LGBT community should be allowed to marry, and be treated equally, but we just don’t think it’s going to pass, so we aren’t going to support it.” In fact, Dean, what if Martin Luther King jr. and all the other Civil Rights activists said that they didn’t think rights for African-Americans would pass, so they just weren’t going to support it. Where would we all be?
You, of all people, should know better. Doing the right thing, no matter whether you are in the minority or not, whether you think you are going to “win” or not, is a principle that has allowed many unpopular, but right positions in this country to gain enough momentum to force change, notably the right for gays to marry and be treated equally. It’s a good thing there were those who stood with you in the beginning, like Nan, so that you could be the first openly gay City Commissioner of Ft. Lauderdale.
You, in essence, Dean, have treated Nan Rich, a person who has given you unwavering support, in a manner that you decry in others towards the Gay community. You ask for fairness, yet you gave her none. You ask for support, yet you gave her none. You ask for loyalty, yet you gave her none. I’m glad that there are others in the Broward Gay community who support Nan, as you say, because that means there are those who have not forgotten who stood with them when their position was not a popular one.
I’m disappointed in you Dean.
Disappointed.
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Leslie Wimes
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Well said Leslie. Also Dean do you remember when Charlie said gay adoptions are not right and should not be allowed. Nan was there for you when it wasn’t the politically expedient thing to do. Nan can and will win, with or without you.
Love Leslie’s style, love her tone, love her content, especially on the open letter and Nan Rich piece. I’m a new fan.
Thanks Nancy!