Live Free Or Die

That is the New Hampshire state motto that you see on the license plates of all the car, but it seems more only certain people can live free.

 

The Republicans are at it again this time they are going after the son of the town manager.

New Hampshire town manager resigns after homophobic harassment
An art display and a performance at the town theater led to comments Jim Gleason didn’t want to have to hear anymore.
NBC News
By Alex Tabet
February 2, 2024

Friday is the last day on the job for the town manager of a small New Hampshire community after an LGBTQ art display off the town’s Main Street kicked off a local controversy.

Jim Gleason, 65, officially resigned after three pieces of art, sponsored by the nonprofit LGBTQ group North Country Pride, drew the ire of state Sen. Carrie Gendreau, who is also a member of the town board.

The art, which went up last summer on the side of a Chinese restaurant, featured a subtle rainbow, meant to symbolize inclusivity for the LGBTQ community. But Gendreau wasn’t warming to the new art in her community.

“I don’t want that to be in our town. I don’t want it to be here,” Gendreau said at a town board meeting in August. Gleason reminded her that the town can’t police private property.
Whoa! Wait a minute, the senator objects to a private individual showing a painting? She objects to a painting that is not obscene, just because it is about LGBTQ issues!
A few weeks later, Gendreau spoke to The Boston Globe. Gendreau, a Christian, told the Globe she was perceiving the artwork from a “biblical perspective.” She also said it had “demonic hidden messages” and called homosexuality an “abomination.”

So she is trying to force her religion on everyone else. This is the mural that is causing the flap

New Hampshire State Senator Carrie Gendreau described this image as “demonic symbolism.
”Alex Tabet / NBC News

 New England Cable News (NECH) writes,

A former mill town in the White Mountains, Littleton reversed a long decline in part through art. Tourists come now for antiques, galleries, boutiques and “the world's longest candy counter." They also look at the bronze statue of Pollyanna, erected outside the public library to honor the 1913 book by local author Eleanor H. Porter, whose main character came to define relentless optimism.

Pollyanna’s motto “Be Glad!” — which hangs from banners up and down Main Street — has been tested as townspeople found themselves debating over inclusion, tolerance and equality.

The board then sought an attorney’s advice on what they could do to regulate artistic expression on town property and Gendreau gave several interviews, telling The Boston Globe that the iris painting carried “demonic hidden messages.”

This buttinski think she can tell other what think… so much for “Live Free or Die”

The artist, Meg Reinhold, said her “We Are Joy” painting was inspired by Iris, the Greek goddess of rainbows. She told The Associated Press in an email that she hoped to “evoke feelings of joy and empowerment,” add beauty to Littleton, and celebrate people living with pride in the LGBTQ+ community.

In an article by New Hampshire Public Radio…

Kerri Harrington, co-chair of North Country Pride, a nonprofit that supports LGBTQ+ people in the area, said it's been a difficult chapter for Littleton and that Monday’s meeting was a bit of a shock to not receive an apology. The meeting also closed with a reading by Gendreau, in which Harrington said people walked out on feeling upset by its contents.

“People were angry and sad, and it's been really rough, it's not been feeling great around here,” Herrington said. “Now we're in a predicament because we're not going to have a town manager.”

For a state that prides itself in freedom they sure want to regulate what people can do.