Friday, December 16, 2011
News Southaven Mayor's Coming Out Story Goes Viral
Posted by Bianca Phillips on Fri, Dec 16, 2011 at 4:11 PM
If Southaven mayor Greg Davis had any hope of remaining in the closet, those hopes are dashed now. After admitting he is gay to the Commercial Appeal, the story went viral, even appearing on the Huffington Post and PinkNews, Europe's gay news service.
Davis told a Commercial Appeal reporter that he is gay after the daily newspaper uncovered receipts showing a $67 charge at Priape, a Toronto-based sex shop catering to gay men. He'd reportedly been in Toronto on a business recruiting trip. Other receipts showed Davis had spent thousands of dollars on liquor, expensive dinners, and a vacation using taxpayer funds.
Davis is currently under investigation for allegedly misusing $170,000 on city-issued and personal credit cards. He's been working to repay some of that money and has managed to pay off $96,000 to date.
Davis was divorced from his wife last year. The couple had three daughters. Davis, a Republican, ran an unsuccessful bid for Congress in 2008 on a "family values" platform.
Comments (24)
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Regardless of whether Davis is gay or not.......the relevant issue is the abuse of the tax payers in South Heaven (or just plain theft of tax dollars). The surprising part is that while everybody is focused on the Mayor, I'm thinking, if I'm a citizen of South Heaven, I would be hounding my Alderman and the rest on the board as too how and why this was ever allowed to progress to the point it is now..........it appears that very few, if any, of them have the common sense that God gave a goose. They approved the reimbursements. My question is why isn't the State Auditor and the Feds not looking into the seemingly non-existent safeguards within the South Heaven government offices.......seems to me there's a whole lot of explaining Lucy needs to come up with.
Maybe the answer is for them all to be removed and somebody who knows how to run the finances of the city take over.....it's quite evident they don't.
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There are probably so many self-loathing, closeted, "family values" gay Republican hypocrites that you couldn't throw a pebble at the RNC without hitting 20 of them. The only thing that continually surprises me is that religious and political conservatives are continually surprised to find gay people everywhere.
If Greg Davis thinks he will obtain sympathy from gay Mid-Southerners, maybe he should think again. I save my respect for gay politicians whose coming out is a matter of integrity. Are there any gay Republicans fitting that description? (Oh yeah, maybe Mary Cheney, but she again loses my respect for being -- in my opinion -- a fascist.)
I DO feel sorry for Greg Davis, though. I hope he gets his life together, pays off his debts, and avoids going to jail.
This is a travesty. The hypocritical republican conservatives are certainly no better than the population at large. Running on a family values platform and being elected shows how gullible the electorate is. It also shows how biased the republican party and a certain portion of Americans are, regardless of party.
What I am referring to, of course, is the intense hate by a large segment of the American population to President Barack Obama.. Whether you like or agree with the policies of the president is one thing, however the hate that is shown for him is not just political ideology. I, and a lot of other people, believe that it is race based.
I have talked to a few southern right wing conservatives and they just despise the president. When I pin them down on why and specifically what he has done to be so despised, they can't give a coherent answer.
Until we, the American population, come to grips with our deep-seated bias and bigotry, we, as a nation, will continue its downward slide.
I am donating a few dollars to Mayor Davis because I know he is going through hell. I don't like his policies, however, he is still a human being and I believe that his problem is more the fault of the ultra conservative republican party rather than his character. Anytime one is forced to hide something, it can become very stressful and expensive. In my estimation, Mayor doesn't deserve to be jailed, but instead, be shown compassion and allowed to pay off his debt.r
Well, OTP, knowing you from the CA, I'm not surprised you think that the people who elected Obama, fully aware of his race, now don't like him because of his race. Perhaps you should give this a little more thought. (Hint - his race is a constant going back to before the election, but his policies are fluid. Think Guantanamo, extension of Bush tax cuts, etc.)
However, I do agree that discrimination and hatred of gays needs to end, just as all discrimination needs to end. However, this is a much bigger problem than ending racial discrimination against African Americans. That is because hatred of gays crosses all racial boundaries and is enhanced by a religious booster due to a few phrases in the Bible, and the Bible will be around forever.
uhoh, president Obama's policies are not that far removed from G. W. Bush and Bill Clinton in a lot of areas. Being president, he is only one part of the rulers that make laws and policies. Extension of the Bush tax cuts, that was congress, mainly republicans, holding the entire economy hostage if it was not allowed. Guantanamo, likewise. Congress has the legislative power, not the president, regardless of who he is.
As far as the bible and gays, in the new testament, there is not a lot devoted to the subject. But, even if it was, we live in a country whose government is supposed to be devoid of religious influences, showing preference to none. If we let religion dictate our laws and polices, then, we are no better than sharia law or any other fanatical religion.
I will ask you, what specifically has the president done that generates the hate that we see in a large segment of the population? Be specific. What has he done, not what congress has done, to deserve the hatred?
I profess christianity, however I do not dwell in the old testament, for it is a historical record of the covenants made and broken between god and the jews. I also do not try to force my religious beliefs on others through government laws and policies.
Here's twenty reasons to hate Obama:
http://www.newworldorderwar.com/20-reasons…
On topic: I really don't care about who is or isn't gay in Mississippi.
It is funny to read that so many people don't care that Greg Davis is gay -- including Southaven aldermen. But having grown up in South Memphis and Whitehaven, and knowing that Southaven is dominated by the churches I attended in high school, and populated by the people I knew in high school, along with their offspring and their parents, I wonder if Greg Davis will last to New Year's as mayor of that city. Heterosexual male politicians can do lots of things that Mid-Southerners will -- and do -- forgive. But there's a reason that Greg Davis only outed himself through stupidity.
I never cease to be amazed by how the right-wing folk have such blinders about so many things. Do they get up and put those on every morning, like their socks?
Jam 1:14 But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed.
Jam 1:15 Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.
The result is spiritual death and will eventually result in actual death. That is what happened to Mayor Davis.
I am a person who has a gay son who we have a good relationship with because we love him. He understands we do not approve of his lifestyle but we have maintained a good relationship. So I feel qualified to comment. What one has to do is get past the very act of the sin and realize sin is sin in God's sight and we all have sinned and come short in our lives that is why we need a savior.
I really pray for Mayor Davis his wife and three daughters I imagine they are going through a very rough time now having their family destroyed (as a family).
He became so engrossed in the activity of his sin that he compromised his civic responsibility and used public funds. I have met Mayor Davis and can say he did an excellent job managing this city for many years. That is what sin does it causes one to compromise morals, values and becomes an obsession that eventually destroys them.
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I am a person who has a gay son who we have a good relationship with because we love him. He understands we do not approve of his lifestyle but we have maintained a good relationship. So I feel qualified to comment.
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He became so engrossed in the activity of his sin that he compromised his civic responsibility and used public funds.
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So you think that Greg Davis' ethical problems spring from his being gay.
Well sir, convey my sympathy to your son.
When parental love motivates you to set aside your ignorance and prejudice, then I'll believe you're qualified to comment. Until then, there are countless evangelicals with straight kids who could have said that homosexuals are hellbound reprobates, and it would have sounded less offensive.
John 9:41 NASB
Jesus said to them, "If you were blind, you would have no sin; but since you say, 'We see,' your sin remains."
Brunetto Latini, It is people such as yourself that give christians a bad name. How dare you take one sentence out of a complete story and turn it to mean what this article is about.
That sentence was Jesus talking to the pharisees about throwing the blind man that Jesus had gave sight to, previously out. It had nothing to do with sin, in respect to this article.
Do you understand that it is a sin to give false prophency? You are not at liberty to take a passage out of the bible and use it to your satisfaction.
I urge you readers to read John and you will see that this dispicable person has just tried to use the words of Jesus to justify his own bigoted statement. May God have mercy on your soul.
Excuse the mis-spellings, I am too disgusted to look the words up.
OTP, I really couldn't care less what you think of my Christian witness. Most people in this part of the world find it impossible to believe in the existence of gay Christians, so I learned to deal with that long ago.
As for your objection to my use of Scripture in reference to "the article" ... you should read more carefully. I posted Scripture in response to another post by the "Christian" parent of a gay son. Go back and read the POST to which I was responding, and you might see that Jesus' words are cogent. If not, then may God bless you anyway.
As far as the warning about giving false prophecy ... I'm not charismatic. I use Scripture; I don't prophesy, nor consort with people who do.
Brunetto Latini, you are a hypocrite. The sentence you used has nothing to do with this article or anyone's sins. It was specific to the person that Jesus was talking to. It was directed strictly to the pharisees that he was talking to, specifically about the man that he had restored sight to and the fact that the pharisees had trown the man out because he professed belief in Jesus.
When you tell or give, so called factual advice, tell the whole story in felationship to the problem.
I pity you.
To chum the waters...
OTP, how do you determine which parts of the Gospel may be applied to different situations at any time and in all our lives, and which parts only apply to the characters in the story? How do you determine which words of Christ are symbolic and have deeper meaning, and which words are literal? For example, when Christ said, Blessed be the poor, was he speaking to all poor in all times, all poor just in His time, or just the poor who happened to be at the Mount that day?
Jeff, the bible breaks down Jesus works into three categories. Sermons, parables and actually conversations with specific people. Sermons are for the multitude, parables are stories that are to be symbolic and used by the multitude. Specific conversations with specific people are for the purpose, at hand, at the time and was mostly used to debunk what the other person was saying or trying to infer.
Ask any clergyman, who knows his stuff and he will tell you so.
It is like the ten commandments. In the old testamant, under the law, as passed down to the jews, the commandments were specific and about the law. Jesus came along, after the covenant with the jews had been fullfilled, concluded, and carried forth those commandments to the rest of the world, clarifying it. Under the law, the old testament, you had to physically break a commandment, with witnessess to be charged. Under the new testament, just having the thought was considered a sin. Under the law, which was strictly for the jews, they lived under the law; under the new testament, the covenant , made with all people, we live under truth and grace. There is a difference.
Do your research before you go into attack mode, it makes you look small.
OTP - so when Jesus said to Thomas, "I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father, except through me," he was just talking to Thomas, not to everyone, and he by no means meant to establish a fundamental tenant of the Christian faith. It was just a private conversation. Or when he said to the rich man, sell all you own, give it to the poor, and follow me, he was just talking to that one rich guy, not all rich guys, and therefore the entire concept of Christian poverty was based on a fallacy committed by people like St. Thomas Aquinas and St. Augustine, etc.
Thank goodness you are here to set those canonized morons straight. We truly are living in a new Golden Age, with so many anonymous commentors so well versed in The One True Truth. I am always inspired by the verse where Jesus turns up his nose and says, "It makes you look small." Lord knows I don't want to look small.
BTW, how many angels can fit on the head of pin? I'm too lazy to do the "research."
Packrat, to the bearers of the One True Truth, to question the methodology is the worst sort of attack.
Jeff, when he told Thomas that, he was inviting Thomas to become one of his disciples. That was a personal invitation to Thomas. He preached to the multitude, but he didn't give them a personal invitation to be his disciples. He did ask them to become christians, however, there is a world of difference in being christian and being a disciple.
As far as the one rich man, I am not knowledge of that specific verse and/or phrase. I am knowledgeable of Nicodemus, a tax collector for Rome and also a very wealthy man. After listening at Jesus' sermon, Nicodemus said that he woukl give up all of his wealth to the poor, if that woukl get him into heaven. I am parphrasing, Jesus, told him: What good will that do, for the poor will always be amongst you. The only way a man can e saved is to be born again. Nicodemus relied: how can a man who is already born go back into the womb and be born again.
At some point, Nicodemus wanted to know if a rich man could go to heaven. Again, paraphrasing, Jesus replied: it is as hard for a rich man to go to heaven as it is for a camel to go through the eye of a needle. Most people think that he meant that a rich man coukl not go to heaven. They are wrong. In those days, camels was used to transport people and goods. The corral they were kept in had a gate shaped like the eye of a needle, so that, in order for the camels hump to go through, the camel had to get low to clear the opening, thus humble yourself and follow the teachings of christ.
Hope that helped you out.
Jeff, Brunetto, any of you that feel like you can just pick a verse out of the bible to justify what you want, feel free to. I will respond and show you the error of your ways.
I don't back down, however, when in error, I will quickly apologize. I am a student of history, all kinds and periods. I enjoy it, it is my hobby.
OTP, I take some perverse pleasure in the knowledge that the person who questions my ability to apply Scripture thinks that Nicodemus was a "tax collector for Rome" and can't distinguish between Nicodemus and the rich young ruler.
I suggest, sir, that your time would be better spent reading the 4 gospels than posting online. You might want to find a traditional church, also. If you attend church, then your pastor is doing a miserable job. Aside from your nonsensical approach to interpreting Scripture and your hearsay knowledge of the gospels, you've accepted the poisonous lie that discipleship isn't a requirement for being a Christian.
Thanks, Bruno. He's also unaware of that the Eye of a Needle was not a camel gate, put a narrow place on a famous caravan route where they had to unload the camels to get them through. So yeah, it's symbolic - the rich man must shed his load of earthly goods before he can get into heaven.
That humbling yourself before God bit is straight out of Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. Maybe the camels kneeled because didn't want their heads cut off by the spinning blade trap that protected the corral? I don't know. But I'm fairly certain that not only can a camel not crouch to get through a low gate, anyone who built a gate so low that camels would have to crouch to get through it would immediately tear it down and build a proper one.
I think it's pretty obvious now that OTP subscribes to the theory of Biblical thought that says when Jesus' rebukes the Pharisees, it is the historical record of the sectarian disputes between the Essenes and the Pharisees (basically a family quarrel) and that nothing Jesus said to the Pharisees should apply to us. This radical interpretation is important to those Christians who are the modern Pharisees and don't like seeing their way of thinking, acting, and believing so heartily and thoroughly condemned by Christ. It must be difficult to be a corner-praying, robe-render and still pretend to follow the Gospels, but there you go. They are still like whited sepulchers. In two thousand years, nothing has changed.
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