The Washington Post has a story out today about Palm Springs and its all LGBTQ city council. The article, which delves into the city’s move to district-based voting and what, exactly, diversity means. The whole piece is really worth a read (here) and it gives the whole country a chance to gain a little insight as to what’s going on inside the head of Palm Springs mayor Robert Moon and, well, just have a read for your self…
He is a 69-year-old retired naval officer who grew up gay in Little Rock. One of his deployments was off the coast of Iran during the hostage crisis, and his ship came under missile fire.
Moon calls himself a moderate Democrat; he has photographs on an office table of himself with Al Gore and Hillary Clinton. He said he got into politics late in life as a continuation of public service. He now says, bluntly, “I hate politics.”
His vote against districts, he said, was in part because he believes the city should have an at-large mayor — now the office will rotate annually among council members — and in part because he has never seen eye-to-eye with what he calls the council’s “professional gays,” meaning those who have been more directly active in LGBTQ causes.
“They can throw all this s— at me — that I am not gay enough, not progressive enough,” Moon said. “But when you’ve been shot at by the Iranians, you know? This will pass.”
Moon is not running for reelection.
