Twenty-nine of the thirty Bay State House Republicans are calling for their party Chairman Jim Lyons to join them in demanding the resignation of GOP State Committee Member Deborah Martell for her homophobic remarks against the family of openly gay Congressional candidate Jeffrey Sossa-Paquette — or resign himself.
Only Rep. Mark Lobardo of Billerica would not sign a letter demanding Lyons’ action or resignation, according to the Boston Globe.
State Rep. Peter Durant of Spencer led the call for Lyons to act. “We always say we want a big tent and to bring anyone into the party. Well Mr. Lyons, this was your opportunity to do that,” Durant told The Boston Herald. “We always say if you’re gay, straight, Black, trans, Hispanic, it doesn’t matter as long as they believe in our ideals and Mr. Lyons missed the golden opportunity to do that.”
This latest development comes after last week Governor Charlie Baker and Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito joined calls for Martell’s resignation.
Martell had made a series of homophobic slurs by email and allegedly in person against the family of Jeffrey Sossa-Paquette, a fellow Bay State Republican running for congress.
Reports the Globe:
“If you will not assert your position as leader of this esteemed party and demand Ms. Martell’s resignation, then we call on you to resign as the Chair of the Party and allow for your replacement so that we may demonstrate to the people of the Commonwealth that within the Republican Party, Ms. Martell’s opinions are not ours and will not be tolerated,” the letter says, according to The Boston Herald.
In emails obtained by The Boston Globe and allegedly in conversation with Jeffrey Sossa-Paquette, who is running for the 2nd Congressional District seat, Martell said she was “sickened” by Sossa-Paquette’s decision to adopt two children with his husband.
According to another report on NBC Boston 10, Martell’s remarks came in a series of emails calling for another candidate to “primary” Sossa-Paquette because he is a gay dad and describing how she was “sickened” by his and his husband’s parenting, as gay men, of their two children.
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