A Reckoning Over Homophobia in the Democratic Party

On January 13th, the Cambridge Democratic City Committee met to discuss a resolution calling for the resignation of Massachusetts state party chair Gus Bickford. The resolution was an attempt to reckon with the party’s complicity last summer in the release of allegations against Holyoke mayor and congressional candidate Alex Morse pertaining to his time as an adjunct professor at UMass Amherst. The allegations were vague and did not include any behavior that violated the law or UMass policy, merely suggesting that Morse had had consensual relationships with adult students. The proposed resolution charged Bickford with “aiding and abetting an attack on a LGBTQ candidate.” But the vote turned ugly as one member, forgetting his live mic, used an anti-gay slur against Dan Totten, one of the members arguing for the resolution. Totten joins Ryan Grim to discuss. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.