{"id":40275,"date":"2013-07-22T11:51:10","date_gmt":"2013-07-22T18:51:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/theavtimes.com\/?p=40275"},"modified":"2014-05-12T21:29:05","modified_gmt":"2014-05-13T04:29:05","slug":"lancaster-commissioner-apologizes-for-anti-gay-slur","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/2013\/07\/22\/lancaster-commissioner-apologizes-for-anti-gay-slur\/","title":{"rendered":"Lancaster commissioner apologizes for using anti-gay slur"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"City<\/a>
City of Lancaster Neighborhood Vitalization Commissioner Stan Muhammad said he did not mean to offend the gay community when he used the term “faggot” while speaking at an event in Lancaster this past weekend.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

LANCASTER \u2013 A Lancaster Neighborhood Vitalization Commissioner has apologized for using an anti-gay slur during his remarks at this past weekend\u2019s Community Prayer and Call to Action<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n

Stan Muhammad<\/strong>, one of several guest speakers at the event, used the term \u201cfaggot\u201d<\/em> while describing the Antelope Valley Youth Ambassador program and its concentration on social awareness. Specifically, Muhammad said:<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re gonna begin to mobilize like never before and honor Trayvon Martin. We\u2019re gonna call this movement the Antelope Valley Youth Ambassadors for Peace. And we\u2019re gonna begin to empower them with the tools necessary to organize like never before.\u00a0 There\u2019s gonna be four areas that we\u2019re gonna concentrate on. One of them is social awareness. We all need social awareness, don\u2019t we? Especially our young people, who\u2019s following behind these \u2013 I can\u2019t even speak the way I want to speak \u2018cause sisters is here \u2013 the young people is following behind faggots in this industry, straight up. Individuals who have sold their soul to the devil for a piece of paper\u2026\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

After the last speaker, Muhammad took the microphone again and apologized for the slur. He said the comment was directed at immoral entertainers being idolized by young people, and he did not mean to offend the gay community.<\/p>\n

Organizers of the Community Prayer and Call to Action<\/em> have condemned Muhammad\u2019s remarks, calling them \u201cintolerant\u201d and \u201cinexcusable.\u201d In a press release issued Sunday, they said Muhammad is no longer a part of the AV Youth Ambassador program and Muhammad should be removed from his commission post with the City of Lancaster.<\/p>\n

Read the full press release:<\/p>\n

When the Community Prayer and Call to Action event was organized in light of the recent Zimmerman verdict, it was meant to be a call for solidarity and action that we as a community will not allow injustice. The event brought together a broad coalition of community leaders united through prayer seeking to create a new dialog between the community and their government.<\/p>\n

However, during the event, one of the speakers: City of Lancaster Commissioner Stan Muhammad made a homophobic slur during his remarks to the attendees. It is the clear and unequivocal position that the Community Prayer and Call to Action organizer and coordinators find Commissioner Muhammad’s slur intolerant, egregious, inexcusable and has no place in the public square. In fact one of the coordinators of the Community Prayer and Call to Action event is a member of the LGBTQ community and finds Commissioner Muhammad’s slur to be appalling, hurtful and unbecoming of a City of Lancaster official.\u00a0 Therefore, in light of Commissioner Muhammad’s slur we call upon Mayor R. Rex Parris to remove him from his commission post as we hope his personal views don’t reflect the views of the City of Lancaster.<\/p>\n

The Community Prayer and Call to Action also notifies the public that until further notice Commissioner Muhammad will no longer serve or help in any future events moving forward, including the AV Youth Ambassador program; a program focused on channeling youth energy into tackling issues such as lowering crime, increasing volunteerism, helping senior citizens and find a mentor. We implore Commissioner Muhammad to meet with members of the Outreach Center, to meet with members of the LGBTQ community and further understand the veracity of his comments.\u00a0 Perhaps in the future the organizer and coordinators of the Community Prayer and Call to Action can look towards resetting a dialogue with Mr. Muhammad, but now it is apparent in the current mindset–that is not an option. The event called for a new open minded attitude in the Antelope Valley and the commissioner clearly does not share this goal for the community at this present time.\u00a0 Commissioner Muhammad’s comment is not what we desire for the future of the Antelope Valley, we hope Mayor R. Rex Parris shares this sentiment.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Speaking by phone on Monday, Muhammad again apologized for the remark and said he was reaching out to the local gay community to create a dialogue around \u201ctolerance and peace.\u201d<\/p>\n

Muhammad also issued a written statement, which reads:<\/p>\n

\u201cThe comment that was made definitely could have been a better choice of wording. It wasn\u2019t and never has been my intention to offend any group, including the gay community here in the Antelope Valley. I would like to offer my atonement, reconciliation and apology for offending that particular group in our community. I\u2019m very familiar with racial discrimination and discrimination based on one\u2019s beliefs, me being a Muslim. My intent was not to offend, and I would like to apologize to the gay community and any other group or persons that may have been offended by my comment.<\/p>\n

I would like to meet with the leadership of the gay community to sit down and create a dialogue around tolerance and peace and to see what we can do to continue serving the at-risk members of our community here in the Antelope Valley.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The OUTreach Center, which dedicates itself to furthering the LGBTQ community in the Antelope Valley, \u00a0is willing to establish a dialogue with Muhammad, according to its President Sanie Andres.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe as an organization and as a community were appalled to hear of his statements, and we definitely condemn the use of any slur against any minority group,\u201d Andres said. \u201cI\u2019m looking forward to speaking with him and finding out what we can do to better educate him and to repair any rift between our communities.\u201d<\/p>\n

–<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

LANCASTER \u2013 A Lancaster Neighborhood Vitalization Commissioner has apologized for using an anti-gay slur during his remarks at this past weekend\u2019s Community Prayer and Call to Action. Stan Muhammad, one of several guest speakers at the event, used the term \u201cfaggot\u201d while describing the Antelope Valley Youth Ambassador program and its concentration on social awareness. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":40203,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40275"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=40275"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40275\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/40203"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=40275"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=40275"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=40275"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}