Legislation by petition referendum begs the q. Why do we need legislators?
The Nazis were nothing if not efficient.
Take the notion of race purity termed eugenics. Originally propagated in America, the ideal took firm root in German soil as the Nazis took power, culminating in the swift and dark efficiency of concentrating those of questionable genetic stock in camps where they could be worked and starved to death or gassed if the former two methods were insufficient.
Better yet, the Nazis developed a cataloguing system for those sentenced to the camps, a neat system of triangular patches color coded to denote the reason for such incarceration. Under the German penal code Paragraph 175, one such reason was engaging in homosexuality, denoted by the pink triangle on a prisoner’s garb.
Of course, the world defeated the Nazi threat in 1945. By the 1970s the pink triangle had been reclaimed as a symbol of gay survival and resistance.
Here in ol’ Froggy Bottom, we are a bastion of diversity, celebrating the past, present and future of our town as created by a rainbow mix of folks from all races, religions, genders, economic backgrounds, ethnicities, and yes, sexual orientations. Well, maybe not so much.
Where the streets have no name
The downtown business community is often a divided lot. Competition breeds contempt, and it is often difficult to get these folks to see past the trees to the greater good made possible by cooperation.
Lo and behold, this fractious throng has found something to unite around, a wrong to be righted through mutual support. They perceived a massive threat to the very fabric of downtown and brought their full weight to bear in fending it off.
Feeding the homeless, housing the hungry, giving solace to the huddled masses yearning to breathe free? No, their cause was more substantive even than that. It came in defeating the dastardly attempt by City Councilman Steven Steel to honor deceased downtown property owner Joseph Wicks by ceremonially naming a street corner in his honor.
Wicks came of age as a gay man during a time when the closet was deep and dark indeed. It was common for gay men to simply deny their sexual orientation. The alternative, coming out, would typically lead to ostracism, job loss, and other personal problems. Damned if you do, damned if you don’t. Substance abuse and mental health were the common prices to be paid.
Wicks instead wore his sexuality on his sleeve. He opened gay bars to provide a safe haven for the gay community at a time when such haven was rare. His establishments remained open on holidays, when out men rejected by family had no other place to go. He provided crucial social support to those who had none, housing those who lost homes, financial support for those without jobs, mental support for those on the edge. He was also an early advocate for AIDS education and prevention while the official government policy still denied AIDS’ existence.
Wicks’ drag shows at Caesar’s Show Bar made Toledo legendary. But alas, toward the end of his life he fell into health and consequent financial problems, his property fell into disrepair and developed tax problems. For that, according to the united front of the downtown business owners, he must ever be remembered.
Forget the support he provided to a minority community when no one else would, thundered Council allies of the businessmen. His legacy is forever tarnished, like Nixon and Watergate or Johnson and Vietnam, roared Republican stalwart George Sarantou. It is an embarrassment to even consider Wicks for such an honor, Republican Tom Waniewski piled on. Council must do full background and financial disclosures to assure such a travesty never sees the light of day, he opined.
This has nothing to do with Wicks’ sexuality or that of the community he worked so hard in, mind you. It is simply about bad business practices.
That, and the pink triangle firmly affixed to Wicks’ name. Steel quietly tabled the proposal.
Family affairs
Council has another opportunity to prove this was an anomaly, the stark fact that no street honors any member of the GLBTQ community notwithstanding. Another proposal before Council is to extend family benefits to those registered as domestic partners, regardless of sexual orientation. Introduced by the Bell administration, it has been championed in Council by Steel and Joe McNamara.
Too expensive, thundered George Sarantou. Unconstitutional, Tom Waniewski piled on. Should have been handled in negotiations, opined fellow Republican Rob Ludeman.
This has nothing to do with the possibility of extending benefits to same sex couples, mind you. It’s all these other issues.
