08.23.07
Tourism leaders demand Naugle stop gay attacks
The leaders of Broward County’s tourism industry demanded Thursday that Fort Lauderdale Mayor Jim Naugle stop his attacks on homosexuality even as he pressed them to change marketing designed to lure gay tourists.
Executives of the Greater Fort Lauderdale Convention & Visitors Bureau and members of the Tourism Development Council accused Naugle of damaging the reputation they sought to craft in the two decades since the demise of Spring Break. They said while some gay tourists and gay-oriented conventions are reconsidering visiting, Naugle’s comments have others fearful of coming if there is rampant public sex.
“The damage has been done to the destination and we have to get to the business of fixing it,” said Nicki Grossman, executive director of the visitors bureau. “The rhetoric has to stop.”
Naugle, though, disagreed, saying the county faces a health crisis because HIV infections from men having sex with men.
“It’s not always about the money,” he said. “It’s about doing what’s right.”
Naugle asked the visitors bureau to stop listing Club Fort Lauderdale in its gay vacation guide. He characterized the business off Broward Boulevard as a gay bathhouse even though it promotes itself as a gym and spa.
But Grossman said the listing had already been dropped, along with all other business listings, when next year’s publication was designed in March. She said the business had been listed because of gay tourists’ interest in fitness, but said the publication was redesigned to focus on events rather than businesses.