Vicki Barnes, the executive director of
Tennessee's Sweetwater Housing Authority, has been disciplined for
likening gay folks to murderers and drug dealers, the AP reported.
In
a January letter in response to the U.S. Department of Housing
and Urban Development's request for feedback on a proposal to expand
the agency's anti-discrimination policies to include sexual
orientation and gender identity, Barnes said the changes would lead
to “chaos.”
“This is not a matter of
discrimination,” she wrote. “In choosing to name a group of
people such as the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT), you
are choosing to group together a group of people who are not of the
same race but have made a personal and moral life style choice.
Other groups who make a personal life style choice are drug users and
sellers, gang members, prostitutes, cults and murderers.”
“A life style where children will be
emotionally and possibly physically abused and neglected,” Barnes
added.
“If we demand they [landlords] house
groups of people as per your definition of family, many will choose
to no longer be a part of our program. They will choose not to be
bullied into housing people who have chosen a life style, which goes
against their moral convictions, or groups of people who will damage
their property. Without sufficient landlords, we have no program.”
Board chairman Wayne Key said in a
statement released Tuesday that Barnes had been disciplined but did
not offer any details.
“Mrs. Barnes' focus was on management
concerns – not an outright attack on individuals or groups,” Key
said.