The University of Massachusetts Democrats sent letters of apology to their membership and directly to Holyoke Mayor and US Congressional candidate Alex Morse concerning their accusations against the mayor of online contact and sexual relations with college students earlier this month.
Reports Springfield, Mass.–based WWLP-TV 22 News:
The letter sent to membership, which has been released on Twitter, said that they had never intended for what had originally been a private letter to the mayor to “unwittingly play into homophobic stereotypes.” …
Following the release of the claims, Holyoke City Councilor Michael Sullivan expressed intention to file a petition for Morse’s recall as mayor. He later publicly called for Morse’s resignation. Sullivan released a statement accusing Morse of sexual activities with “teenagers;” wording that the LGBTQ Victory Fund (which supports Morse) called homophobic– saying that referring to college students as teenagers “is meant to purposely evoke stereotypes of gay men as pedophiles.”
In their new letter to their membership, the executive board denied leaking the initial letter to Morse to the Daily Collegian. They also denied the accusations were made with any intent to help Neal or hurt Morse. They admitted, however, that the wording of their letter was “careless,” and said that the majority of their executive board are members of the LGBTQ community, and would never intentionally do anything to spread homophobic conversation.
“Although we never intended for the language of the letter to be scrutinized by anyone other than Alex Morse, we realize now the wording was careless and unwittingly played into homophobic stereotypes. We are deeply sorry that Alex Morse has faced homophobic attacks as a result of our actions, and that our decision has negatively impacted the LGBT community, including our own membership. We wish Alex Morse the best of luck in his campaign and political career,” the letter reads.
For his part, Morse says he is continuing to move forward with his campaign. In a statement sent to 22News, he said “I appreciate the letter from the UMass Democrats and the apology. It’s tactics like this that push people away from politics. I look forward to going to Congress and doing my part to build a democracy that lifts people up, rather than tearing them down.”
Not a subscriber? Sign up today for a free subscription to Boston Spirit magazine, New England’s premier LGBT magazine. We will send you a copy of Boston Spirit 6 times per year and we never sell/rent our subscriber information. Click HERE to sign up!
