Further explanation re the Pin-up girl...

You know, it is not my habit to call out people, but if I didn't, who will in this case? Here we have a situation where the City Commission will be considering protection of "gender identity" and "gender expression" as part of the City Civil Rights ordinance (a very good thing) and then we have a blatant example of sexual objectification that is being used by community leaders to promote their cause regarding the beach. Now, regardless of your position on the private/public partnership on the beach, we have a group that is using an image of a "pin-up girl" as part of their promotion of their ideas. We need to say "no" to this kind of image. I know what wrath that I would have incurred had I the bad taste to include this sort of image in my campaign for City Commission - it never crossed my mind.

What makes me rub my eyes and scratch my head is that I know the people that are behind this effort and I would think that they would be more sensitive about this issue. These are people with ideals and principles, supposedly. I just wonder how this got by them. And I know that if the tables were turned, that I'd be called on the carpet about this. However, I know better and so should they.

And, the reason that I make this an issue is that I respect women as equals - human beings - not as objects.

What they do with the image is their business, but as community leaders with the ideals they espouse, they should be sensitive enough to stop using this demeaning image.