Bid to Censure Councilman for Remarks on Gays Shelved

Calling an end to a divisive Long Beach controversy Tuesday, the City Council sidestepped a motion to censure Councilman Jerry Shultz for anti-gay remarks he made last month.

The council voted overwhelmingly to receive and file Councilman Alan Lowenthal’s censure motion, which he argued was necessary to heal public faith after Shultz condemned homosexuality as immoral during a heated discussion on domestic partnerships.

Seven of Lowenthal’s nine colleagues voted against the formal reprimand, saying they hoped that dropping the issue would unite the community after recent demonstrations by Shultz’s conservative supporters and Long Beach’s gay and lesbian community.

“This issue has divided this city,” Councilwoman Doris Topsy-Elvord said. “It is time for us to move on.”

Shultz refused to comment after the vote.

On June 11, to the cheers of family values activists, Shultz listed various homosexual acts and likened gays to pedophiles before an audience of more than 300.

For two hours Tuesday night, the council and community members debated the value of a censure, some arguing that it would trample Shultz’s 1st Amendment rights and others insisting he deserved a reprimand for statements they likened to Nazi propaganda.

“If he can’t say what he needs to say . . . who’s going to be next?” asked Paul Jessen, pastor of the North Long Beach Four-Square Church.

Some of the council members who voted to table the censure action emphasized that they were not supporting Shultz’s actions or statements.