Bakst wrong on gay parade

A  gay guy I could vote for, David Cicilline, is right - not

    your Charlie Bakst - on this issue of sending a  Providence Fire truck

    - as a good will gesture ? - to the annual Gay Pride Parade.

               The thinking that justifies  Mayor Cianci's blatant favoritism

    is legally at least very muddled. The government shows its respect for

    religious freedom by not honoring ANY religion.

               Do good American citizens need the cacophony  and flamboyance

    of a fire truck to remind them of the American ideal of tolerance ?

                    Is it un-American to tolerate gay people but object

    to homosexuality ?  And also to these all too frequently OBSCENE public

    circuses that do nothing to advance gay dignity ?

                A police escort will send the message that the RIGHT of

    gays to have their Pride Parade will not go unrecognized. Even the

    KKK deserves a police escort - for their own safety.

             But there are many forms of exhibitionist behavior that belong

    in the closet.

                    Isn't GAY a poor excuse for a HUMAN identity ? Why

    should your sexual proclivities define you in your own mind ?