Dan Fitzpatrick, Michigan councilman, compares gays, preventing bans to Nazism

From Saginaw, Michigan comes a shocking story of a local councilman who compared the pressure to pass a measure preventing discrimination against homosexuals to Nazism.

Anti-gay protest carrying sign making comparisons to Nazi Germany in 2007 photo/Tim Pierce via wikimedia commons

The council was discussing an ordinance that “would have banned local businesses from firing or refusing to serve gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people because of their sexuality or gender identity,” describes a Huffington Post article.

One of the supporters noted that this could be good for local businesses and reaching out to the younger citizens who support gay rights.

Dan Fitzpatrick countered “Most people know my position. What I’m totally amazed at is a number of people I’ve talked to or heard from say, ‘Come on, just pass this thing.’ Find out what it means later. Well how does that sound? Doesn’t matter; if it’s bad, fix it. Fix it later. It’s going to happen eventually; just get with it. Be progressive. In about 1933 there was a real big youth movement in Germany called the party of national socialists. A lot of people said, ‘You know, I don’t like them. I don’t know; I don’t understand. But man they’re good for business.'” (Emphasis added, The Dispatch)

Fitzpatrick later clarified his remarks, saying he did not intend to broadly compare members of the LGBT community to Nazis, noting he was attempting to illustrate the need to critically approach arguments for something based on a potential financial benefit.

“I wasn’t comparing them with the Nazis,” he said. “Just the idea that just because something comes from the youth community, or a small subculture of youth or a subculture of our community, it doesn’t mean it’s necessarily good.”

If we are trying to engage in sincere dialog, writing off your constituents as Nazis is sickening. It’s not an acceptable comparison to anything,” Councilwoman Annie Boensch said.

The Council voted 9-0 to reject the ordinance a second time.