May 15, 1996 in Nation/World

County Resolution Blows Out Torch S.C. Officials Pass Anti-Gay Measure Aimed At Olympics

Associated Press
 
Tags:homosexual

A South Carolina county that lies along the route of the Olympic torch run has challenged Olympic officials to take the torch elsewhere by adopting an anti-gay resolution.

Spartanburg County Council’s resolution, passed Monday, matches the wording of a 1993 statement by Cobb County, Ga., commissioners declaring that homosexuality is “incompatible with the standards to which this community subscribes.”

After Cobb County passed its resolution, the Atlanta Committee for the Olympic Games rerouted the Olympic torch to avoid the county and moved the volleyball competition.

The Olympic committee warned that Spartanburg County could face similar sanctions. The torch is scheduled to pass through in late June.

“If the resolution passed by the Spartanburg County Commission in South Carolina is indeed similar to the one passed in Cobb County, Ga., we would be hard-pressed to come to a different conclusion,” the committee said in a statement.

“This is not gay-bashing by any means. It’s a reaction,” said Councilman Frank Dillard, who introduced the measure. “We have only done this because the Olympic committee acted inappropriately.”

Dillard said he was prompted to act by a Spartanburg man who complained that the Olympics are approving “the immoral practice of sodomy.”

© Copyright 1996 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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