The vice mayor of Dixon, California isn’t backing down from an article he wrote referring to homosexuals as “faries” [sic] with an “inferior complex” and declaring July 1 Straight Pride American Month.
The jocular column, “That’s Life” was published in the Independent Voice and is also available on Vice Mayor Ted Hickman’s website. Members of the community are planning protests in response to the op-ed, calling it “a black eye on the city.” But so far, Hickman has refused to budge.
"It was tongue-in-cheek and had nothing to do with my elected position," Hickman told the Sacramento Bee, even though the column makes reference to his position as vice mayor. He blamed "thin-skinned people” for misinterpreting his attempt at humor.
"My point was, what's the difference? They have their pride month, why can't we have ours? ... I support the First Amendment.”
In an earlier column, Hickman wrote that he was a proud “heterosexual, monogamous, married to the opposite sex, straight individual that knows what goes where and why” and joked that he had "lesbian tendencies."
In addition to the planned protests, LGBT rights organization Equality California has called on Hickman to resign. A number of activists on Facebook have discussed a possible recall effort.