Nathan Deal
Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal is taking a page right out of Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings’ For-You-But-Against-You book.
That’s right, Dallas may have the mayor who supports marriage equality yet somehow doesn’t, but Georgia can now rightfully stake its claim to the governor who’s too homophobic to use the word “homophobia.”
The Georgia Voice reports that Deal has issued a proclamation requested by organizers of the International Day Against Homophobia — but only after sanitizing it into “Mistreatment Awareness Day.”
This has prompted activists to launch a Change.org petition calling for Deal to call IDAHO by its name:
In Georgia, well-known activist Betty Couvertier has been the IDAHO organizer for the last four years. For the second year in a row, Governor Nathan Deal’s office has issued a proclamation per Betty’s request to recognize the annual Atlanta and Georgia-wide events. Herein lies the problem – the Governor’s office refuses to officially address a day against homophobia, instead issuing the vague recognition of “Mistreatment Awareness Day,” as they did last year.
By sanitizing the word “homophobia,” Governor Deal’s office has quite literally engaged in it, by refusing to address the specific concerns of Georgia’s LGBTQ citizens. The Georgia House of Representatives recognizes the importance of this event by issuing a correct proclamation, as should the Office of the Governor.
Please join us in petitioning Governor Deal’s office to immediatley reissue a proclamation for “International Day Against Homophobia” as it was originally requested. To issue a proclamation as anything else, is to do disservice to the very purpose of IDAHO events, and feed the homophobia worldwide organizers seek to advocate against.
The petition also calls for Deal to “mail the official proclamation in an appropriate certificate envelope, to ensure it does not arrive a second time folded and tattered, signifying diminished value by the Governor’s office.”
Sign it by going here.
And by the way, if anyone wants to start petition on Rawlings, we’ll be glad to post it as well.
