December 30, 2010: North Carolina County Commissioner Makes False Claims that Homosexuals ‘Prey’ on Straight Men at YMCAs

Mecklenburg County Commissioner Bill James responds to criticism of his recent characterization of homosexuals as “sexual predators” (see Late December 2010) by sending out a mass email further vilifying homosexuals. He then posts the email on his Web site. In a letter titled “Red Phone,” James says that YMCAs across America have had to implement procedures to “prevent homosexuals from preying on men,” and says that since the Obama administration has repealed the Pentagon’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” (DADT) policy, Congress must develop rules “to protect young heterosexual military members from predatory behavior” by gays. James writes: “[L]ike a whore in church, homosexuals have been on their best behavior because that behavior was illegal and they didn’t want to risk being kicked out.… I can hear liberals screaming into their monitors, ‘They aren’t predators!’ I disagree. Go down to the Dowd YMCA and let them show you the ‘red phone.’ They had to put it in to stop homosexuals from ogling straight business men in the showers and changing rooms.” James is referring to a YMCA in Charlotte, North Carolina; there is no evidence that the Dowd YMCA or any other YMCA facilty has anything similar to James’s “red phone.” He also claims, without presenting evidence, that Mecklenberg County spent “big bucks” redesigning a local park so that it would not attract homosexuals. “Repealing DADT was a left-wing political move made before Christmas by a lame-duck Democrat Congress,” he writes. “That vote comes with some severe consequences for military readiness. The left-wing of America and radical homosexuals will be out in force to try and prevent any rules that would protect [heterosexual soldiers]. Young kids who enlist will become sexual targets in the new US military.” He concludes by citing an unattributed letter he claims to have received that states in part, “I am afraid that from now on, in the military, I will be punished for speaking up now that immoral conduct is condoned.” [Bill James, 12/30/2010 ; LBGTQ Nation, 12/31/2010] James has a long history of attacking and vilifying homosexuals (see April 29, 2005 and December 17, 2009).