TALLAHASSEE -- Lesbian and gay students
lobbying for harassment protection in schools were treated to a
withering lecture from a Florida state legislator on Monday. At one
point the conservative lawmaker told them they would suffer the
wrath of God.
|
Florida Rep. Allen
Trovillion |
The Tampa
Tribune reports Republican Rep. Allen Trovillion, 74, welcomed the
teens into his office only to belittle and berate them. "I don't
understand why the gay population is becoming so vocal," he is
quoted as saying. "You are going to cause the downfall of this
country that was built on Christian principles."
The 10 minute meeting ended with a declaration and warning.
"You're throwing your life away," Trovillion said. The intransigence
and insensitivity of the lawmaker's comments reduced one student,
17-year-old Chris Vasquez to tears, but it has not quelled his
conviction to keep fighting.
"The Florida Legislature says we're going to hell," the Tribune
quotes Vasquez, an honors student and editor in chief of his high
school newspaper in Edgewater. "The part that really bothers me is
the fact that he's one of the people we're supposed to look up to
for moral guidance and support. He's spouting ... ideas that only
make the world more dangerous for gay youth."
The students were taking part in Equality Florida Youth Lobby Day
2001, which intended to increase awareness of the discrimination and
harassment gay students face at all grade levels in school. They
seek explicit protection from anti gay bias and harassment in the
form of legislation.
The students and organizers said three legislators, including
Democratic Sen. Skip Campbell, expressed interest in sponsoring a
bill; but they received no firm commitments. Unfortunately, Rep.
Trovillion's comments still burned in their ears.
"You have to suffer the consequences of your actions," he told a
student who had been beaten for years because he was deemed too
effeminate by his classmates. "The Scripture says that no homosexual
will see the Kingdom of God, and I can't put it much straighter than
that," The Tribune quotes Trovillion.
"God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, and he is going to destroy you
and a lot of others."
