Meet Ted Hickman. He’s the vice mayor of Dixon, California (pop. 19,806). For now.
Hickman is currently facing a recall effort after publishing a homophobic column in his local newspaper the Independent Voice where he called gay people “tinker bells” and “fairies” and suggested July be declared “Straight Pride American Month.”
Wrote Hickman:
“Last Sunday ended LGBTQF-WTF month Yea! (*Don’t get me wrong I support the First Amendment, as much as the next person, and support the rights of grown men to wear skin tight short-shorts and go-go boots and don tinker bell wings with wand and prance down the streets of San Francisco) with tens of thousands of folks dancing and prancing all over American celebrating the fact they are different than most of the rest of us and showing their “pride” in being so.”
Hickman went on to say that not it was time for “healthy, heterosexual, fairly monogamous” people to celebrate their Pride.
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“Now hundreds of millions of the rest of us can celebrate our month, peaking on July 4th, as healthy, heterosexual, fairly monogamous, keep our kinky stuff to ourselves, Americans,” he wrote. “We do it with our parades in every state and county in this country with families celebrating together.”
He continued: “We honor our country and our veterans who have made all of this possible (including for the tinker bells) and we can do it with actual real pride, not some put on show just to help our inferior complex “show we are different” type of crap. We ARE different from them…”
Hickman then proceeds to list all the ways in which straight people are different (and better) than gay people, writing: “We work, have families, (and babies we make) enjoy and love the company (and marriage) of the opposite sex and don’t flaunt our differences dressing up like faries and prancing by the thousands in a parade in nearby San Francisco to be televised all over the world…”
The conservative lawmaker ended his column with a really bad attempt at a joke:
“*And yes, before it becomes an issue, I do believe in faries; I’ve seen them in SF for myself. Let’s see if I can remember the Peter Pan story about believing in faries…oh yeal, so according to “Wikipedia” faries are powered “bypiezoelectric” crystals which can be energized by sound waves like made by clapping. So, right now if you don’t want any faries to expire, you can clap your hands. See, I do have a heart I just can’t type and clap at the same time… so I had to make a hard choice didn’t I?”
In an interview with the Sacramento Bee, Hickman defended the column, saying: “It was tongue-in-cheek and had nothing to do with my elected position [and that] thin-skinned people took offense.”
In a separate interview with the Reporter, Hickman said: “Don’t like what I write, don’t read it.”
Nevertheless, a protest has been planned to happen at Dixon City Council’s next meeting on July 10 and a Recall Ted Hickman Facebook page was created over the weekend.
“We believe bigotry has no place in public office in the State of California,” a post on the page reads. “We will see you soon, and many times, Hickman. We look forward to filing the petition for your recall.”
Related: Feeling left out, fans demand “Straight Pride Night” after Red Sox paint pitcher’s mound rainbow
Vatican Lokey
As hateful and obtuse an argument as “White Pride Month.” Their so-called “convictions” are so loose and weak, they cannot abide anyone not falling in line with their perceived supremacy. I hope the voters and constituents in Dixon remove this damaged bit of goods from office soon.
Kangol
Yet another old white homophobe sounding as moronic as he can be. Since every month in the US is “straight pride” month. Maybe Mr. Hickman should turn on the TV, watch a movie, surf the net, or step outside his bubble and he’ll see how straightness, cis-heterosexuality and heteronormativity are relentlessly pushed in this society and most other ones. People are regularly killed for being gay or trans, and gay, bi and trans children are being forced into conversion therapy, another form of torture; no one is thrown out of their home, beaten to death, fired, stripped of their children, etc. for being straight.
DCguy
LGBT people started pride as a response to attacks and bigotry that was attempting to shame the community. Pride wasn’t started to attack other groups.
People who want “White Pride” or “Straight Pride” if you read their writings are ALL doing it as an attack on other minority groups. NONE of them say “Hey, lets have a festival to celebrate families, and have a kiddle pool, and dancing, and a hetero marriage ceremony, it’s ALWAYS some old bigot complaining about LGBT people trying to live their lives and pretending PRide is a direct attack on him.
Dr. Arthur Frederick Ide
I wonder who is to tell whom how short shorts can be? There are many bars for heterosexuals featuring “Totally nude” females. This is hypocrisy. If “too short shorts” offends, you do not have to look. This is not Puritan New England or Mormonland.
GetReal101
This is not 1970s. Those tight short shorts, esp when men wear them, were atrocious back on and are downright disgusting in 2018.
Hussain-TheCanadian
I would like to encourage mr. Hickman to go on ahead and start his so called straight pride month, let his town be the first to do it.
Let’s see how many heterosexuals show up, I have a feeling it’s going to end in a fiasco, I for one would love to watch this sociological experiment unfold, crash, and burn.
This is the only way to put an end in using our pride month for political and bigotry inspired propaganda.
radiooutmike
Whenever these stories pop up– I always remember the Family Circus cartoon. Jeffy or Dolly asks Grandma (I think) when is it going to be children’s day? She replies with every day is children’s day.
You all, already got everything and you’re worried about Pride Month. You special snowflakes are vewwy vewwy upset you don’t have your own Straight Pride Month? Maybe all of you have self-esteem issues, because you’re horrible horrible people.
Zombiez8mybrain
“We honor our country and our veterans who have made all of this possible (including for the tinker bells)…”
As a gay veteran, I’d like to point out that all this was not made possible FOR the “tinker bells,” but WITH us.
jaack
As a surviving gay veteran, I know the military members who made the ultimate sacrifice to protect the freedoms that the bigots have available to them now. But bigots want to steal from us with their hate speech. Bigotry must be fought head on showing the MINDLESS hatred wrapped in the flag or religious text or cute slogans meant to hurt people who have defended all of us and our families now and those to be yet born.
Would you call Christ and his followers a bunch of tinker bells since there is not one WOMAN in the Apostles or at any time in their years together? Can the Apostles and Christ be called vagrants with no job or source of income?
prarie pup
If straight people want to have a Straight Pride Month and hold parades and such, I don’t know any gay person who would even care, let alone mind if they do. Unlike them, we tend to mind our own business and stay out of theirs.
Dr. Arthur Frederick Ide
Ted Hickman and all homophobes have a White Pride YEAR, but LBGTQ settle for one day! Hickman needs to shut up.
PLAYS WELL WITH OTHERS
Countdown til this vile, noxious, abhorrent pig is caught in sex scandal with underage boy…… 10…9…..8….7…..
Doug
These straight homophobic guys throw such big tantrums whenever they’re not getting all the attention they’re used to.
jorgecruz
I like the part where he calls himself and people like him “fairly monogamous”. That must make his wife feel really good. I looked at his blog and there is a lot of creepy stuff in there. He really fancies himself some kind of comedian.
Heywood Jablowme
Mr. Hick Man is appropriately named!
So is his SPAM idea. Almost as good as Trump’s FART Act!