Messenger Post: 'Tis the season for solidarity

By Benjamin Wachs

December 27, 2001

December of 2001 not only marks the celebrations of Christmas, Hanukkah and Kwanzaa, it is also "Truth, Compassion and Tolerance Month" in Fairport.

Mayor Clark King proclaimed the month at the Dec. 10 village board meeting in honor of Falun Gong members in the community.

"They approached me, and being residents of our community, I considered it appropriate to do a proclamation," King said. King also noted that County Executive Jack Doyle had made a similar, countywide proclamation to coincide with the opening of a photo exhibit of Falun Gong practitioners worldwide at the airport.

[...]

After finding millions of adherents in China, the movement was banned in 1999 by the [party's name omitted], which saw the loyalty of its practitioners as a threat to government rule. Falun Gong practitioners in China have faced rampant political persecution ever since. Its practitioners have received widespread international support, [...].

With those groups in mind, King emphasized that while December was named "Truth, Compassion and Tolerance Month" at the request of Falun Gong practitioners in Fairport -- such as Louise Huang, who was imprisoned in China for her beliefs -- the proclamation was less an endorsement of any particular struggle and more of a statement of solidarity with those who are struggling.

"Any repressed people, we need solidarity with those people," King said. "I don't profess to be an expert on the whole movement, but, here in the United States we have the right of the first amendment, which is the right to publicly speak out and defend your beliefs. So I think America is concerned about the oppression of any groups speaking out publicly, and that's my concern."

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