Salem mayor allied herself with the LGBT community

Mayor Kim Driscoll of Salem, Massachusetts recently decided that Gordon College would no longer be able to use her town hall due to their desire for legal discrimination based on religious grounds. She said their use of the town hall would breach the city’s non-discrimination policy.

This has resulted in a right-wing uproar via blogs, news, and websites, with indignant callers complaining about her decision. Her response? For every call received complaining about the anti-discrimination policy, she will donate five dollars to North Shore Alliance of Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Youth (nAGLY.)

In a letter she shared with nAGLY and social media, she stated, ‘This action has gained some attention in both regional and national media outlets.

Most recently it appears to have been picked up by right-leaning blogs and websites, who have decried our decision to reject discrimination.

This has resulted in a number of phone calls being placed to my office today from people outside of Massachusetts who have expressed some patently offensive views regarding LGBT individuals. I anticipate we will receive more of them over the course of this week.

We are keeping a tally of these telephone calls and for each one we receive I will be making a donation of $5 to nAGLY, in support of your good work to create, sustain, and advocate for the policies and services that support our LGBT youth here on the North Shore.”

If you’d also like to donate to nAGLY, but don’t want to call and insult LGBT people, you can do so here.