Scott Tibbs
blog post
October 28^th, 2004

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An article in the San Francisco Chronicle highlighted the program city government put together a while back to attract homosexual tourists to Bloomington. I'm not sure why the Chronicle article shows surprise at this, considering Bloomington has been known as a city friendly to homosexuals for many years.

I certainly support efforts to increase tourism in Bloomington. Tourism brings economic benefits, tax dollars, and exposure to our city in other parts of the country. However, I question why city government feels it needs to attract people to Bloomington based on their sexual preference.

As you know, many people in our city believe homosexual acts are morally wrong, usually because their faith prohibits homosexuality. While I believe we should be tolerant of those who live a lifestyle we might disagree with, I think it improper for city government to use taxpayer dollars to target invitations to homosexuals when many city taxpayers believe homosexuality is strongly frowned upon by God.

If increasing the number of homosexual tourists to Bloomington provides a clear economic benefit, the private sector will have a motivation to advertise Bloomington as a "gay-friendly" city. There is no need for city government to offend taxpayers who believe homosexuality is morally wrong by using their money to promote homosexual tourism.

While I am sure you consider yourselves to be tolerant, I remind you that tolerance goes both ways. You may not agree with those who believe that homosexuality is forbidden by God, but you represent all citizens of Bloomington, not just those you agree with. I encourage you to reconsider this program given the objections many people of faith have to it.