{"id":17331,"date":"2021-01-24T11:36:13","date_gmt":"2021-01-24T19:36:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/?p=17331"},"modified":"2021-01-24T11:37:52","modified_gmt":"2021-01-24T19:37:52","slug":"a-massachusetts-democrat-pushed-his-party-on-its-alex-morse-handling-getting-called-a-faggot-wasnt-even-the-worst-response","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2021\/01\/24\/a-massachusetts-democrat-pushed-his-party-on-its-alex-morse-handling-getting-called-a-faggot-wasnt-even-the-worst-response\/","title":{"rendered":"A MASSACHUSETTS DEMOCRAT PUSHED HIS PARTY ON ITS ALEX MORSE HANDLING. GETTING CALLED A \u201cFAGGOT\u201d WASN\u2019T EVEN THE WORST RESPONSE."},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n<p><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Finterc.pt%2F2Mf55X0\"><\/a><em>Holyoke Mayor Alex Morse speaks with reporters after his loss to U.S. Rep. Richard Neal in the Democratic primary for the 1st Congressional District on Sept. 1, 2020, in Holyoke, Mass.&nbsp;Photo: Hoang &#8220;Leon&#8221; Nguyen\/The Republican via AP<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">A meeting of the Cambridge Democratic City Committee is a microcosm of the Massachusetts Democratic Party.<\/h4>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/theintercept.com\/staff\/eoin-higgins\/\">Eoin Higgins<\/a>,&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/theintercept.com\/staff\/ryangrim\/\">Ryan Grim<\/a><br>January 22 2021 (theintercept.com)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure><iframe src=\"https:\/\/embed.acast.com\/deconstructed-with-mehdi-hasan\/areckoningoverhomophobiainthedemocraticparty?accentColor=111111&amp;bgColor=f5f6f7&amp;logo=false\"><\/iframe><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>ON WEDNESDAY,&nbsp;January 13 \u2014 the same day that the University of Massachusetts at Amherst released the&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/theintercept.com\/2021\/01\/18\/alex-morse-umass-amherst-report\/\">results of an investigation<\/a>&nbsp;into the romantic life of Alex Morse, finding no wrongdoing \u2014 the Cambridge Democratic City Committee met to debate a resolution brought forward by a local ward condemning the party for its handling of the situation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It did not go well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Backers of the resolution were surprised that opponents were ready with a substitute amendment, which replaced the call for the Massachusetts Democratic Party chair\u2019s resignation and broad criticism of the organization\u2019s handling of the scandal with vague affirmation of the party\u2019s commitment to LGBTQ people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It got even worse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>When party member Dan Totten, one of the leading proponents of the resolution, voted against the amendment, a party board member, George Goverman, shot back: \u201cYou faggot.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Audio of the meeting is included in&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/theintercept.com\/2021\/01\/22\/deconstructed-massachusetts-democratic-party-homophobia\/\">this week\u2019s Deconstructed podcast<\/a>, along with an interview with Totten. Goverman spoke to Deconstructed but declined to do a recorded interview; he said he thought his mic was off during the meeting and that he had reached out to Totten. \u201cI have reached out and as far as why I said it, I think it\u2019s pure stupidity, and that\u2019s about all I can say,\u201d said Goverman. \u201cI really didn\u2019t know I was on an open mic.\u201d<a href=\"https:\/\/theintercept.com\/newsletter\/?source=Article-In&amp;referrer_post_id=342321\">Join Our NewsletterOriginal reporting. Fearless journalism. Delivered to you.I\u2019m in<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Alex Morse \u201cscandal\u201d exploded in August after students with the UMass College Democrats and the College Democrats of Massachusetts told the Holyoke mayor he was no longer allowed at their events in a letter which was leaked to the Massachusetts Daily Daily Collegian on August 7. Full of vague claims of inappropriate conduct, the letter threatened to derail the mayor\u2019s congressional campaign against incumbent Rep. Richard Neal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Intercept subsequently&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/theintercept.com\/2020\/08\/12\/alex-morse-college-democrats-chats\/\">revealed the charges<\/a>&nbsp;were part of a scheme on the part of students to take down the progressive insurgent, done in collaboration with the state party. Massachusetts Democratic Party Chair Gus Bickford, along with party Executive Director Veronica Martinez, had&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/theintercept.com\/2020\/08\/14\/alex-morse-richie-neal-state-party\/\">acted to connect<\/a>&nbsp;students making the vague claims against Morse with party attorney Jim Roosevelt in July.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Asked if he planned to resign from the party board, Goverman said that he was leaning in that direction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>DURING THE&nbsp;Cambridge Democratic City Committee meeting, Totten was outspoken about his support for the resolution that would have called for the resignation of Bickford for \u201caiding and abetting an attack on a LGBTQ candidate,\u201d in part because \u201csuch attacks may discourage more diverse and younger people from participating in the Party; thereby weakening the party\u2019s ability to win elections.\u201d The CDCC is one of many grassroots party organizations across the state whose leadership is elected at the ballot box.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Displeasure with Bickford\u2019s handling of the scandal is not unique to Cambridge, though Bickford was recently reelected party chair by a landslide on the back of the state party\u2019s entrenched old guard. Lifetime members \u2014 who are allowed to serve at will without running for their position \u2014 overwhelmingly backed Bickford, who beat out challengers Bob Massie and Mike Lake with 62 percent of the vote in the November 12 contest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201c93 percent of lifetime members who voted, voted for Gus,\u201d Matt Walsh, a Massachusetts Democratic State Committee member,&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/theflashpoint.substack.com\/p\/mass-dems-overwhelmingly-reelect\">told<\/a>&nbsp;The Flashpoint newsletter. \u201c86 percent of people under 36 voted against him.\u201d\u201cWe\u2019re a party that proclaims to be pro-everyone but our leadership, membership, and many electeds lack any true understanding of what it means to be an anti-racist, anti-homophobic, anti-sexist party.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>According to Donovan Birch, a member of the state committee who has been helping lead the push against Bickford for his actions, \u201cfrustration\u201d with the chair is pervasive in Massachusetts Democratic town and ward committees.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cMany folks believe he should resign and are organizing their individual town and ward committees,\u201d said Birch, who is gay. \u201cFolks are taking these actions on their own in an effort to keep the pressure on.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019re a party that proclaims to be pro-everyone but our leadership, membership, and many electeds lack any true understanding of what it means to be an anti-racist, anti-homophobic, anti-sexist, etc. party,\u201d Birch added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Cambridge meeting quickly turned contentious as other party members \u2014 including Roosevelt himself \u2014 instead worked toward the passage of a watered-down resolution that neither named Bickford nor called for concrete action. Rather, the new resolution offered suggestions on how the party could better address concerns of LGBTQ members.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>One of the new resolution\u2019s biggest boosters in the meeting was none other than Roosevelt himself, who repeatedly misrepresented the findings of a&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/theintercept.com\/2020\/11\/11\/massachusetts-democrats-dsc-morse-bickford\/\">report prepared for the state party<\/a>&nbsp;by attorney Cheryl Jacques.<a href=\"https:\/\/theintercept.com\/2020\/11\/11\/massachusetts-democrats-dsc-morse-bickford\/\">RelatedDemocratic Officials Lied About Role in Alex Morse Smear, Internal Report Finds<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Roosevelt claimed \u201cthe Jacques report found that there was no homophobic intent or action in the actions by Gus Bickford,\u201d while Jacques instead said that she did not make findings either way on the \u201cmotivations\u201d for any actions taken \u2014 a clarification helpfully located at the top of the report on the first page. Roosevelt also said, \u201cMayor Morse responded and acknowledged there were no false allegations.\u201d While Morse has acknowledged \u201cconcerns\u201d and apologized for making anyone uncomfortable, he never made a statement on the nature of the allegations \u2014 since, in fact, no concrete allegations were made.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Intercept asked Roosevelt what he made of the suggestion that while Goverman\u2019s slur was the most explicit expression of bigotry at the meeting, the entire thrust of the opposition was touched with homophobia. Roosevelt pointed to the state party investigation which he claimed found no evidence of homophobic intent. Asked why so many people felt otherwise, he said, \u201cI think they\u2019re misinformed. I don\u2019t think they understand the facts of what happened. Now, I\u2019m not saying that there was no homophobic motivation by any of the students, but I don\u2019t have any way of knowing that one way or the other. There\u2019s some pretty good evidence there was some careerist motivation among some of the students. Whether there was any homophobic intent really there, I don\u2019t have any way to know.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The perceived undercurrent of homophobia in Roosevelt\u2019s framing struck Democratic State Committee member Nancy Stenberg, whose district includes Morse\u2019s home, as&nbsp;an indication that the state party doesn\u2019t reflect its members.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cJim Roosevelt\u2019s words and actions during this meeting are a continuation of his pattern of lies about his role in the Morse matter,\u201d Stenberg said. \u201cHe continues to parrot the old tropes, designed to re-enforce his hold on a Democratic Party model that will only be changed when we permanently remove these sadly misguided homophobic members.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Chris Addis, a member of the Cambridge Democrats who was also on the call, told The Intercept that he saw the incident last Wednesday as \u201cfurther evidence that homophobia and other forms of bigotry are alive and well in the Massachusetts Democratic Party and don\u2019t simply age out.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Addis told The Intercept that a restorative justice process was needed that would hold both Roosevelt and the party as a whole accountable for the ongoing issues with how Massachusetts Democrats treat their LGBTQ members.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cIf he doesn\u2019t agree to said process I think he should step down,\u201d Addis said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>DURING A ROUTINE&nbsp;vote as the process stretched into its third hour, Goverman blurted out the slur after Totten voted. The slur was the subject of fallout later in the meeting, as members called for Goverman to resign from the city party.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Totten wrote about his experience<a href=\"https:\/\/www.cambridgeday.com\/2021\/01\/19\/homophobic-slur-during-meeting-of-democrats-shows-why-goverman-roosevelt-should-resign\/\">&nbsp;in the local newspaper<\/a>&nbsp;Cambridge Day&nbsp;and told The Intercept that he was in fact more bothered by the subtle homophobia on display in the meeting before the slur was uttered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cAt this point in the meeting, I knew we were going to lose the vote by five or six votes,\u201d Totten said. \u201cIf this homophobic slur had come in a different context, I\u2019d have been much more taken aback. But here I was like, you know, that\u2019s kind of the natural extension of the argument that was just made.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Totten noted Goverman\u2019s defense, which he also offered to Totten, implies that the only problem was that the mic was on and that it\u2019s not an isolated case.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI don\u2019t use that word except to myself and very rarely to myself,\u201d Goverman told The Intercept. \u201cIt was not meant to go out to the meeting. I mutter things to myself and that\u2019s one of them. One of the things I mutter to myself is \u2018communist.\u2019 Because I\u2019m an old guy and back when I was growing up, anything I disagreed with would have to be communist. So it\u2019s just a bad habit. Even when I agree with someone, I sometimes will say communist. \u2026 It\u2019s a silly thing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Throughout much of the 20th century, homophobia and anti-communism were tightly linked. The hunt for gay civil servants being blackmailed by the Soviets was led by Sen. Joseph McCarthy and known as the Lavender Scare.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Told that people at the meeting felt that while his blurting out of a slur was the most explicit expression of homophobia, the entire push against the resolution was as well,&nbsp;Goverman declined to comment. But, he said, he was disturbed when the party treasurer, a longtime activist, resigned in protest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>DSC member Walsh, who is also a member of the gay community, said the comments from Goverman are part of a larger problem: a partywide culture of permissiveness toward homophobia that needs to be addressed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cUnfortunately, most members of the community, myself included, have been on the receiving end of that slur countless times,\u201d he told The Intercept in a text message. \u201cPeople use it to dehumanize, and to justify treating LGBTQ+ folks as less than human. After all \u2014 we\u2019re not people, we\u2019re just f*ggots.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">CONTACT THE AUTHOR:<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/theintercept.com\/staff\/eoin-higgins\/\">Eoin Higgins<\/a><a href=\"mailto:eoinhiggins@gmail.com\">eoinhiggins@\u200bgmail.com<\/a><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/@EoinHiggins_\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">@EoinHiggins_<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/theintercept.com\/staff\/ryangrim\/\">Ryan Grim<\/a><a href=\"mailto:ryan.grim@theintercept.com\">ryan.grim@\u200btheintercept.com<\/a><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/@ryangrim\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">@ryangrim<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Holyoke Mayor Alex Morse speaks with reporters after his loss to U.S. Rep. Richard Neal in the Democratic primary for the 1st Congressional District on Sept. 1, 2020, in Holyoke, Mass.&nbsp;Photo: Hoang &#8220;Leon&#8221; Nguyen\/The Republican via AP A meeting of the Cambridge Democratic City Committee is a microcosm of the&#8230; <a class=\"continue-reading-link\" href=\"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2021\/01\/24\/a-massachusetts-democrat-pushed-his-party-on-its-alex-morse-handling-getting-called-a-faggot-wasnt-even-the-worst-response\/\"> Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr; <\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17331"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17331"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17331\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17333,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17331\/revisions\/17333"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17331"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17331"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17331"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}