A gay lawmaker lost a potential job after saying she wanted to out a fellow Congresswoman.
Rep. Patricia Todd is Alabama’s first openly gay state lawmaker. Todd was gearing up to leave office and take up a job with a Florida LGBTQ nonprofit organization called One Orlando Alliance, but has now lost the job after making some public proclamations.
Tood posted on Twitter that she wanted to out Governor Kay Ivey after saying she’s heard rumors about Ivey’s sexuality for years now.
In the tweets, which have been hidden behind a protected Twitter account (but luckily, news sources were able to screenshot them), Todd said:
“Will someone out her for God’s sake? I have heard for years that she is gay and moved her girlfriend out of her house when she became Gov. I am sick of closeted elected officials.”
Despite many people and organizations being offended by Todd’s words, she doubled down on them and said she’s not sorry.
"I hate hypocrites," she told AL.com. Todd also added that she has no proof of Ivey being a closeted politician, but that she’s heard many rumors. She also asked others to "ask her directly if she has ever had a relationship with a woman."
That said, Todd may be regretting her words, or at least the aftermath of them, now that she’s moved to Orlando and lost her job.
One Orlando Alliance, which is an organization formed after the 2016 Pulse shooting, announced that it has retracted its job offer after Todd’s social media posts.
Jennifer Foster, the chairwoman of One Orlando Alliance, shared that Todd’s comments “don’t aligned” with the organization’s values.
“We strongly believe that coming out is a personal choice and we do not support involuntarily outing,” Foster said.
Meanwhile, Kay Ivey insists that Todd's statement was a "disgusting lie."
