missed it, Madonna recently said in an interview on the Howard Stern radio show
that she has no interest in returning to her hometown of Rochester Hills
because it’s a place dominated by “basic, provincial-thinking people.”
Rochester Hills Mayor Bryan Barnett famously took offense to the pop star’s criticism
and responded publicly by writing a chamber of commerce-style letter telling the singer
about lots of wonderful things in Rochester Hills.
The mayor’s rebuttal, in turn,
sparked a biting response from Rochester Hills native Nick Rinehart, who said
in an Oakland Press letter to the editor that “I’m not convinced that you
understand what she actually meant when she made these comments.”
“Madonna expressed earlier in her interview that she felt unwelcome in
Rochester Hills for a number of reasons,” wrote Rinehart, a gay-rights activist
and a student at the University of Michigan. “She was alienated by a
homogeneous community dominated by affluent white suburbanites that weren’t
accepting of her. While the city has grown more diverse since her childhood,
your belief that Rochester Hills has transformed into a progressive,
forward-thinking community is far from the truth.”
was a participant in the ACLU’s efforts to stop high schools from blocking
legitimate websites that discuss LGBT issues. The teen joined the fight after
learning that Rochester High School’s “acceptable use” policy for school
computers blocked his search for Internet sites on gay-straight alliances.
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| Barnett/OP photo |
What may have inspired Rinehart to respond to the mayor’s letter was this
sentence: “We are growing in many ways
including in our economic, racial, and religious diversity. We are home to one
of the largest Mosques in Metro Detroit …”
Rinehart’s response
described an incident at a Rochester Hills City Council meeting at which a
group of LGBT activists who called for passage of a human rights ordinance were
brushed aside by the mayor and his council colleagues – eight straight men –
who insisted the city exhibited no discrimination against gays.
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| Rinehart Facebook photo |
“For someone like you (Barnett), Rochester Hills is an ideal place to live. As
a white, educated, conservative, religious man, you find yourself surrounded by
people just like you,” he wrote.
“However, problems arise for people who don’t fit in so easily. As a gay man, I
have felt unwelcome by many in our community, including classmates, neighbors,
teachers, and even government officials.
“That’s right. Even you, Mayor
Bryan K. Barnett, have made me feel unwelcome in my community.”
