I have mixed feelings about posting this followup as I'm actually pretty embarrassed about yesterday, but I want to make sure that everyone who read my diary has the correct information that what I reported was indeed a HOAX.
Background for those who missed it: late in the morning yesterday I posted a diary linking to an article about a reported press release from a group in Utah who were submitting legislation for "the involuntary redistribution and relocation of homosexuals to municipalities outside state boundaries or, to their rehabilitation in state sanctioned facilities." Shortly after I posted the diary, the article reporting the press release was revised to state that it could possibly be a hoax. By this time, my diary was on the rec list. I did my best to update the diary as new details came to light and ended up requesting that it be un-recced once it was clear that it was in fact a hoax. The thing that finally tipped my hand was research from DK user Jbearlaw which revealed that were no official press conference events scheduled in the location where it was reported to take place.
As it turns out, there actually was a press conference but it was a fake publicity stunt. Jesse Fruhwirth, the author of the original article that caught my eye, offers this explanation:
Note to readers,
I apologize.
As I reported first via my Twitter feed, the press conference calling for a ballot initiative to remove homosexuals from Utah was fake. At best, the organizers put together improv theater that punked the Utah press corps and maybe got people to think about gay rights for a moment. It's fashionable to make fools of news media folk such as myself, so, touche. But at its worst, it was an offensive attention-grabbing play on Holocaust-like imagery and language that does little to advance the argument for gay rights in Utah.
The phony press conference is a play out of the Yes Men play book. For example, The Yes Men once punked the U.S. Chamber of Commerce by announcing a press conference, then posing as representatives of that group while calling for climate change legisation. It was funny, you see, because the Chamber opposes such legislation. Ha. Zinger. Got 'em.
I'm not sure what Ha-Ha we were supposed to get from today's action, but I think the point they must have been trying to make is that it is somewhat believable that Utah could foster such a movement of concerned citizens that would openly and publicly call for Nazi-like solutions to the "homosexual problem?"
From http://www.cityweekly.net/... . The entire blog post is worth a read for further details about the perpetrators of the hoax.
Personally, I feel a bit miffed about the whole thing. I was totally taken in due to the very detailed, official looking nature of the "draft legislation." The fact that Utah recently proposed a law to criminalize miscarriage, a seemingly ridiculous and equally outrageous action, made it all the more believable. Like Jesse, I'm not entirely sure of the point they were trying to make. One thing I did learn though, is to take one press release with a grain of salt, and seek out further sources before posting a news item on Daily Kos. Apologies everyone. I hope this clears up any confusion I may have caused.