Today's topic is respect, or rather, the lack of it - one locally, the other on a larger, national scale.

So, what were the Norwich and New London City Councils thinking when they decided to meet two weeks ago on Juneteenth?

The day was officially enacted as a federal holiday in 2021 when President Biden signed the Juneteenth National Independence Day Act into law. It was the first addition of a federal holiday in 40 years.

Since then, 18 states, including Connecticut, have designated June 19 as a paid state holiday. So, in terms of status - regardless of whether you observe it, celebrate it or use it for a family cookout or round of golf - it's right up there with Memorial Day, Labor Day, Independence Day, and Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.

Would either elected governmental body do business on one of those holidays? Of course not. There'd be hell to pay, which there was after both councils inexplicably conducted regularly scheduled meetings on June 19 to do their respective cities' business. None of the business was so pressing, though, that it couldn't have waited until the next evening or even the next regularly scheduled meeting.

In fairness, the Juneteenth observance commemorating the end of slavery in the United States is a relatively new official holiday. It has been celebrated increasingly for years, but its official recognition as a holiday didn't occur until recently. This was the first year it was established officially as a state holiday in Connecticut. Truth be told, I was not aware Juneteenth had officially been designated a state holiday here and, apparently, neither were the councils. The idea that they were aware and didn't care enough to move the meetings is even more troubling.

The councils received public scoldings in both cities.

Valerie Braxton Gambrell, my former classmate at Kelly Junior High and Norwich Free Academy, decried the Norwich council's decision to meet.

"And you wonder why you do not get participation from certain people in this community," she said. "Because we think you guys don't consider or think about us."

New London City Councilor Akil Peck did what others should have done and politely excused himself from the council meeting, saying he didn't think "it's fitting that we're here conducting city business on Juneteenth.“

"So, I have to stand for something or otherwise, I just go along with everyone else," he admonished. "I feel in my heart it's the right thing to do to excuse myself from this meeting in honor of Juneteenth."

Had other councilors done the same, there would have been no quorums and the meetings would have ended, enabling both councils to save at least a little face.

Regaardless, you can bet neither council will make the same mistake next year.

More Disrespect

And on the topic of ham-handed disrespect, what were the Los Angeles Dodgers thinking when they invited a group of drag queens who dress as nuns and use crucifixes as props to be honored in pre-game ceremonies at Dodger Stadium on June 16?

Initially, the Dodgers canceled the event after justified blowback from angry Catholics, who don't see the humor in the group's annual "Hunky Jesus" contest, among other blasphemous demonstrations. Then the Dodgers compounded their original mistake by caving into pressure from the LBGTQ+ community and re-scheduling the ceremony. In doing so, they offered their "sincerest apologies to the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, members of the LBGTQ+ community, and their friends and families." There was no apology for the Catholics, though. We'll just have to get over it.

Sadly, Catholics are an easy punching bag for any number of fringe and mainstream organizations, comedians, politicians and culturists. Every religion - including Catholicism - has its faults, but that doesn't justify the sacrilege that society has far too easily tolerated for far too long. The charity work done by Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence doesn't excuse their sacrilege.

Would the Dodgers honor an organization that disrespects and belittles, say, Jews, Hindus, Muslims or any other religion? If someone ever proposed honoring Salman Rushdie, Dodger management would quash the idea in the blink of an eye for fear of offending Muslims.

This isn't a knock on the LGBTQ+ community. We're all God's children. To each their own.

As the Dodgers' future Hall of Fame pitcher Clayton Kershaw said: "I don't agree with making fun of other people's religions. It has nothing to do with anything other than that. I just don't think that, no matter what religion you are, you should make fun of somebody else's religion."

At Kershaw's urging, the Dodgers moved up the announcement for their July 30 Christian Faith + Family Day, but don't expect that to quell the Catholics' angst. Catholics would do well to boycott the event.

Though they haven't yet repeated their 2020 World Series Championship, the Dodgers won 217 games over the past two seasons - more than any other team in Major League Baseball. This year, however, they've had some injuries (hmmm!) and, at this writing, are in third place in the National League's West Division with six other teams owning better records.

Perhaps they would do better to stick to baseball and let various community groups organize their own celebrations. After all, God is watching.