I was sent this by James & Chris. Apparently Canton, TX, home of the “First Monday” sale, decided to not allow a film in their town because the main character is gay!! Please be sure to contact Canton and tell them you are ashamed of them for their ignorant, behind the times homophobia and that you will not be doing any business in their city again.
E-mail the city at: canton@vzinet.com
CANTON, TX City Officials “Officially” pulled the plug on the Feature
Film “Fat Girls” Jan 21, 2004 only 2 days before principal photography was to begin in this small town known as “First Monday.” City Manager Johnny Mallory informed the Production company that they were no longer in support of this project due to the lead character being GAY.
Katrina Cook, Extras Casting Director was scheduled to speak at the High School on Wed. Jan 19, and only 30 minutes prior to the assembly received a phone call from the HIGH SCHOOL DRAMA TEACHER, Abby Richt, stating that the assembly was cancelled.
The HIGH SCHOOL PRINCIPAL, Max Callahan, denied us the opportunity to speak to the local High School to invite them (by their own choice) to attend an open casting call that evening.
At the Open Casting we had 124 locals who were very excited about the project coming into town, and could not wait to be a part of it. Yet now, due to the decision of a few select people in the town, they will no longer be able to participate in this possibly once in a lifetime opportunity.
This production has been moved to WAXAHACHIE TEXAS, however, if you reside in the Canton area and feel that the City Officials denied you the opportunity to participate in this film OR if you feel that this is DISCRIMINATION I URGE YOU to contact any and all of the city officials listed below. Pass this along to wherever you see fit. LET YOUR VOICE BE HEARD. Canton may be a small town but pulling the plug on something because of everyday life issues is not only unprofessional but also discrimatory.
We would like to note that Rona Watson and Phyllis of the Chamber of Commerce was always very supportive of this project, and we would like for you to also commend them for their efforts.
Oh good idea
January 24, 2005 @ 11:21 amThat was very dumb of them–who do they think hits their flea market? Straight homophobic men?
January 24, 2005 @ 12:30 pmYeah, where have heard that idea before?
January 24, 2005 @ 1:00 pmThat was too funny Stephanie!
I just had this image of a bunch of truckers walking around looking at quilts and handmade furniture!! ;-D
January 24, 2005 @ 1:22 pmBobby, you should post this on this the message boards for this movie on imdb.com
January 24, 2005 @ 2:11 pmGood idea Tim, I’ll do that.
January 24, 2005 @ 2:24 pmSee how powerful networking can be?
January 24, 2005 @ 3:38 pmWell you guys, I was the first contact in Canton that the movies guys contacted. I talked them into using the place and got them to the people that would have housed them for very little at the Buffalo Girls Hotel on the Mountain.
The people of Canton was all for this and even had it in the news paper’s front page. Many people wanted to be extras for 2 of the parts including my family.
The people that stopped it all had nothing to do with the Trade Days themselves, but the city planners did that.
Boycotting the First Monday Trade Days will hurt the people and the vendors alike. You need to Boycott the people that are responsible.
January 26, 2005 @ 8:21 pmThe City Manager is Charles Fenner for the last year now.
January 26, 2005 @ 9:39 pmDarnell, thank you for your comments and information, I’ll try to spread the word. I’m glad to hear that a number of people in the Canton area did want this to happen. I can easily visualize the situation much like it happens elsewhere: a few people get up in arms over it and force the city to make a call on it, when in reality if they hadn’t made such a fuss the movie would have happened, been a good thing for the city, and most would be none the wiser.
I don’t want to boycott First Monday, as I’m sure (or at least hopeful) that most there had nothing to do with this decision and may even have supported the movie. But, I don’t know how to send a message to those who made the decision (other through e-mails, mail, and phone calls) that the GLBT community is upset other than through a boycott. As the old saying goes, stick it to’em where it hurts. I realize it can impact others, but I don’t see an effective way for the world outside Canton to, as you say it, boycott the people who are responsible.
I would love to hear from you again on any updates to the issue (like if the city got enough complaints they at least acknowledged them or discussed further the decision they made), and if you have any better ideas on how the GLBT community can better communicate their concerns to Canton please let me know.
January 27, 2005 @ 10:11 amI think our discussion about a boycott were fairly tongue-in-cheek. I’ve never been there - although Canton is a frequent pit stop for fuel and meals going to east Texas or Shreveport for me. And my dad bought a pickup from Lewis Chevrolet out there. Also, I don’t really think a lot of gay folk go there - it’s probably mostly old-timers and regional residents that could give a rat’s ass about gay issues.
However, I disagree with the sentiment that an actual boycott, assuming it had the potential to be effective any way, would be a bad thing. I acknowledge that it would hurt the residents - many of them people who supported it - but it is the only weapon we have. The City manager, mayor and City Council are accountable only to the people of Canton. A boycott (again - assuming it would be effective in the first place, which I don’t think it would) would cause an unfortunate financial impact on the locals, who would then need to put pressure on their officials to correct the problem.
As it stands, the officials have no reason to change their position. I sent e-mails to the City Manager, mayor and the Executive Director of the Canton Economic Development Corp. Although my e-mail was direct but respectful, I did not even receive the courtesy of a reply.
The people of Canton need to recognize that the willy-nilly kneejerk reaction like this gives the impression of a backward, intolerant town which compounds stereotypes, and respond accordingly. The people of Canton is who the officials need to hear from, not a bunch of fags in Dallas.
Right now, the movie is going forward elsewhere and what’s done is done, but I doubt I will spend my dollars in Canton until someone there acknowledges that the reaction was wrong.
January 27, 2005 @ 10:41 amI have to agree with Chris, and not for the obvious reasons
The people of Canton - including the businesses - need to let their elected officials how they feel … if THEY truly feel this is an issue. If a small group of narrow minded people are able to get their elected officials to cancel the film - even though it goes against good business sense - then I highly doubt the businesses will have much of a chance to do anything.
Of course this is a mute point as the movie has moved. The “punishment” of a boycott would be for what has been done, not the intentions of those that regret what has been done.
January 27, 2005 @ 11:57 amThis is the news on the Front page of the Canton paper a few days ago:
Film Project Relocated
By Sheila Kunick, Staff Writer
Jan 27, 2005, 11:18
The independent film “Fat Girls” that was scheduled to be shot in Canton from January 23 through January 30 has been relocated to Waxahachie after the crew failed to follow proper procedure through the city and “mislead” the school district on their intentions.
Casting director for this production Katrina Cook released a statement about the move.
“The city manager pulled the plug and we have moved the entire movie to Waxahachie. His reason was because the lead character was gay. Not only is this discrimination but he has denied many local people the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity (perhaps) to be in a film..Unfortunately a core group of individuals can make decisions based on their personal points of view,” said Cook.
Canton City Manager Charles Fenner said the allegations that he ‘pulled the plug’ on the movie was a false statement.
Fenner said the crew did not go through the proper city procedure to block the roads and sidewalks for their filming needs. The filming crew needed to get approval from the Canton City Council.
“Basically when I talked to the casting producer, I told her that I did not have the right to tell her she could not come to town (to film). She wanted to dwell on the issue of the homosexuality. I told her I did not have authority over the school district because the school facility was no longer available to them,” said Fenner.
He explained that he heard the crew was coming to the area and were going to put up saw horses out on the city streets and the public sidewalks.
“I told her they had to go through the proper procedures and that is to petition the council to use the public roads and sidewalks. I explained to her that even our own fire department, MDA and humane society has to go through the council,” he added.
“She was the one who dwelled on the fact that the issue was uprising about the homosexuality. I told her that I was sure she understood that there were principals and morals in the community,” Fenner said. “I did not even know anything was going on until last Thursday that they were going to be using as much of the public property as they were trying to use… I do know that there were people concerned.”
“We just told them that any public facilities that were used had to go through the proper procedure… Even if we have a restaurant owner or someone on the square that needs to use the sidewalks they have to have a permit also,” he pointed out. “This is not discrimination; we are not treating them any differently than anyone else.
They (film production team) said they had already done all of that and I told them they had not.”
“The producer called me and kept hitting on the gay issue. I told her whether that was my belief or the community belief was not the issue. They have the right to say what they want to say on private property. But as far as using public property, that has to go through proper procedure…” Fenner said. “I’m not sure what the city has to do with this other than the city streets, we don’t have the right to tell them they can’t come to Canton on private property… As far as the public facility there is a procedure that everyone has to abide by.”
Canton Chamber of Commerce President Rona Watson would not comment on the film production being moved.
“We agreed to let the filming take place at our schools but we were mislead by their intentions.
We felt like the storyline was not appropriate for our school to be involved in,” Canton ISD Superintendent Larry Davis said.
Originally some scenes of the film were going to be shot at Canton Junior High.
When the project was first proposed to the Canton Chamber of Commerce the storyline was about three teenagers coming of age in a small rural Texas town.
The town was been renamed to Bloom, Texas. The basis of the story is three teenagers that are a little overweight; they are struggling with what they want to do in life.
It was later discovered by the school administrators, the city manager and the chamber that the eccentric star teen character leads an alternative lifestyle.
© Copyright 2005 by Van Zandt Newspapers, LLC
February 2, 2005 @ 1:10 amDarnell, again, thanks for the update. If I understand everything clearly, the city is saying they weren’t against a gay film, but just needed proper procedure to be followed. I hope that is the truth. It does sound though like the school was against a film about a gay character being filmed on school grounds and using school time to cast the film.
February 2, 2005 @ 10:20 amDo any of you live in Canton? Do you actualy know what you’re talking about? Canton is a great East Texas community that values morals in today’s twisted world. I personally have not heard one complaint from anyone in Canton about the movie going elsewhere. The City of Canton to my knowledge said no to the movie because they had not gone before the city council and requested permission to block off city streets for filming not because the leading character was gay. Boycotting First Monday is ridiculous!
February 3, 2005 @ 2:30 pmSteve, sorry to take so long to get to your comments. No, none of us do live in Canton, though we all do live in Texas. I hope Canton is a great place to live and a good upstanding community as I’m sure it is. But tolerance is a great virtue that most religions teach.
It does sound like the movie was turned away because of not following policy, but it just sounds fishy as they could have easily followed policy and stayed there. I wasn’t there so I can’t honestly know.
I don’t want to hurt First Monday traders or anyone in Canton or accuse them of things they didn’t do. What I do want to happen here is to increase the visiblity of what is often an invisible minority here in the U.S. these days: the GLBT community, and hopefully make even just one person (but maybe more!) a little more tolerant/accepting/knowledgeable of gays & lesbians and the issues we face in our society today.
If you or anyone you know does not personally know a gay or lesbian person and the only things you’ve heard about us are from rumors, stereotypes, and people who are opposed to what they may call ‘gay special rights’, then I invite you to contact me and learn more about the other side of the issues. As long as the discussion is civil, I’m more than glad to agree to disagree, but I would like to tell you about my life, how I feel I’m living the life I was meant to live, that I’m normal, healthy, and a positive contributor to our society, but I don’t have the same rights to care for my life long partner as married people do.
February 7, 2005 @ 10:16 amCanton leaves bad taste in mouths of ‘Fat Girl’ crew
Dispute centers on whether city leaders lost their enthusiasm for the project after discovering the main character was gay
By Tammye Nash
Staff Writer
Two days before principal filming was to begin, producers of the independent film “Fat Girls” were told by Canton city leaders that they would be denied access to public facilities in the Northeast Texas town. The crew filming the independent movie — centering on a gay teen growing up in a small Texas town — were forced to move to Waxahachie. The film’s co-producer, Kim Fishman of the Dallas production company Hear No Evil Films, believes the sudden turnaround in Canton came after city leaders learned that the film’s main character was gay. Canton’s city manager, Charlie Fenner, said the film crew was denied access to access to Canton’s public facilities because producers failed to secure the proper permits in advance. Fishman said she talked to Canton’s a…
Here to Read the Full Story http://www.dallasvoice.com/articles/dispArticle.cfm?Article_ID=5661
February 9, 2005 @ 5:16 pmNo thanks.
February 11, 2005 @ 4:10 pmHey!
I,m a resident of Canton, Texas. Some have the
August 20, 2005 @ 3:37 pmimpression that Texas and the general South are single minded hicks. Well, a minority are. Our superintendet at the time was part of this minority. I just want you know that the people of Canton are (mostly) not a bunch of homophobic hicks.
The drama teacher’s name is actually Abby Rike. ABBY RIKE. Please get your information correct before you publish this. Also, it was not at all her fault. She is a very lovely talented woman and if you blame any of this misunderstanding on her I swear I will hunt you down. I would suggest taking her name down.
Thank you
May 14, 2007 @ 10:04 pmI am a proud homophobic of east Texas. I cant belive all of the people here that claim not to be homophobic. Why cant people say what they think instead of going along with the crowd? I think all queers have something wrong with them. Take for instance the way they have sex, just think about two men and what they have to do to get thier jollies. On the other hand I wouldnt mind watching two females having sex if they werent to ugly. All and all the acts are not what you nor I would consider NORMAL! Good luck to all of you queer men trying to have children your way, or is that why so many men call thier kids S-it head.
June 22, 2007 @ 12:29 pmJames. You are an asshole. That is all.
August 20, 2007 @ 8:15 pmI know this is a washed up in the past subject but i stumbled upon it and can’t help but comment: If you were to take a poll of all residents (not just this small group you speak of) you would most likely find 90% of my town would not support your way of life nor tolerate it in our area. Yes gays are here and no we’re are not blind but seriously wouldn’t Oak Lawn etc… be a better setting for any film where the main character is gay?? I find it funny how gay people who obviously don’t understand or fit in with small town life (life as in generations i.e. Reproduction) get all upset when they are not accepted in a rural, predominently christian area. Not here to bash anyone or there beliefs but its best just to pass thru my town and understand that its probably not a good fit for you. AND yes anyone gay or straight would have to appreciate First Monday!!
June 4, 2008 @ 12:30 pm