Vice Mayor of Dixon, Ted Hickman’s article calling gay men ‘fairies’ was met with outrage
The vice mayor of Dixon, California, caused outrage in the town after he penned a column calling for a Straight American Pride Month, in which he called gay men ‘faries’ and ‘tinkerbells.’
In the June 29 column, which has since went viral, Vice Mayor Ted Hickman wrote ‘We are different from them…. 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 (sic) and prancing by the thousands in a parade in nearby San Francisco to be televised all over the world.’
Tuesday night, over 200 people; including residents, LGBT supporters and people from around the region, showed up to the town’s city hall calling for his resignation.
Will Eukel told the Sacramento Bee he drove 47 miles to attend the protest.
Eukel said ‘Making fun of them in this manner basically is like attacking them and I don’t like it when my friends are attacked, especially by a person in a position of power.’
Over 200 people showed up to a town hall Tuesday calling for his resignation
The article, in Dixon’s Independent Voice newspaper, has since gone viral
Hickman addressed the gathered crowd before the public comment session began, saying, ‘I didn’t give up my First Amendment rights when I became a public official.’
He added however, ‘If I could rewind time and write the column again I would not use the words sarcastically of vice mayor because I see it might not be acceptable to some.’
‘I do think for sure the rules committee needs to be convened,’ said Dixon City Councilman Devin Minnema, according to CBS Sacramento.
‘We have three options that are available to us- admonishment, reprimand and censure,’ Minnema added.
While there was an effort to recall Hickman, it was stalled because legally a recall can’t happen within six-months of an election.
While the 74-year-old said he is running for re-election in November, many of his constituents at the town hall meeting said he doesn’t stand a chance.
‘We have tolerated your bad behavior and bad words too long,’ said Chelsea Baer, a commissioner on the Parks and Recreation Commission. ‘Dixon is fed up. Listen to those people out there and look at all these people there. … We will vote Nov. 6 and you will see what will happen and you will not win.’