Questions to consider about the gay parade

By Louis K. Windsor,

At the Los Altos City Council meeting of May 9, a large number of well-organized supporters of a gay-pride parade, most of whom were administrators, teachers, students and parents from Los Altos High School, spoke in favor of the city’s granting a parade permit. Several individuals, including myself, spoke in opposition.

The proponents argued that a significant group of students have suffered discrimination because of their sexual orientation. Therefore, our city needs to commit to a “public healing” by having a downtown parade.

Here are some of my questions to the citizens of our town:

Is it the city’s responsibility to support a public parade in order to make a small number of students feel “loved and accepted,” or is this matter best left to the families, school psychologists and the students themselves?

Do a majority of Los Altos residents support the well-publicized gay political agenda, which in the opinion of many is the real impetus behind the parade?

Does the parade represent a bona fide First Amendment issue of “free speech,” as the mayor and city attorney would have us believe? Or is this a capricious interpretation of the Constitution by a city council frightened into supporting a cause not shared by the majority?

Do Los Altans know that Mayor Gavin Newsom of San Francisco received a special invitation from the parade organizers? Are they aware that our town may see the presence of major Bay Area gay and lesbian groups due to prior publicity?

If the parade sets a precedent, what other special interest groups will demand a public parade down Main Street to exercise the right to free speech?

Two specific threats were made to our city during the council meeting. A sponsor of the parade threatened to withhold business from the city if his group’s demand was not met.

Mayor Ron Packard then stated that even though he understood the position of those opposed to the parade, he was required to uphold his “constitutional duty as mayor” by granting the parade permit. He then concluded with a warning. “If we do not grant the parade permit, our city will probably be sued by the Civil Liberties Union.”

Los Altos citizens should be alarmed by this capitulation to outside forces of political correctness. The council should seek alternative legal advice immediately to address the question of how the issue of free speech requires the community at large to pay for the use of city services to celebrate the sexual orientation of a special interest group.

Windsor is a Los Altos resident.