The CVS Pharmacy manager who allegedly admitted Friday to filming women in his store’s bathroom was an active participant in the 2008 charter amendment to “keep men out of women’s restrooms.”
The group behind the petition drive, Citizens for Good Public Policy, could not be reached for comment.
Jonathan Matheny, 27, was charged with one count of video voyeurism after a customer told police she had discovered a cell phone equipped with a camera under a pile of tissues in the CVS bathroom at 125 S.W. 34th St. . . .
The petition drive in the summer of 2008 was aimed at a city ordinance that provided rights, including equal access to public accommodation, for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender individuals.
Matheny signed the petition, according to records with the Alachua County Supervisor of Elections Office, and opponents of the charter amendment say they received reports that Matheny allowed the petitions to be distributed and signed at his store. Those behind the drive said the amendment was essential to prevent men from using the public-accommodation portion of the law to enter women’s restrooms and film, rape or otherwise prey on the opposite sex.
“It’s a bit hypocritical when that group was allegedly putting the petition on the ballot to protect women in bathrooms and then the manager of the store who was allowing the petition gathering was in fact preying on women in bathrooms,” said Terry Fleming, spokesman for Equality in Gainesville’s Businesses, the political action committee created to oppose the charter amendment. The amendment was defeated by voters.
The group behind the petition drive, Citizens for Good Public Policy, could not be reached for comment.
I bet they couldn’t. This hypocrisy is too gorgeous for words. Enjoy.