JACKSON RESPONDS TO DEFENDERS OF LEPAGE’S VULGAR TALK

AUGUSTA – Senate Majority Leader Troy Jackson of Allagash issued the following statement in response to Michael Heath’s, the former director of the Christian Civic League, and Paul Madore’s, the director of the Maine Grassroots Coalition, defense and praise of Governor LePage’s vulgar remarks. Earlier this month, Governor LePage lobbed as series of insults at Senator Jackson, including a crude sexual reference.

During the Heath-Madore press conference, they quoted biblical references in defense of their homophobic claims. They praised LePage for “speaking like a man” and equated homosexuality to pedophilia and said “the vile tide of perversion which these forces unleashed is now at high-water mark, as sodomy and transgenderism have encroached on every institution in our state, in particular our public schools.”

The press conference lasted for 45 minutes and drew a crowd of six supporters, including Heath’s one wife.

“Today’s display was nothing more than hate and fear mongering in the name of God. There is nothing more disgusting than using religion to promote hate and violence. As a Democrat and a Catholic, I oppose this hatefulness and bigotry.

The Governor’s comments are not defensible. They were vile—not fit for a school yard and certainly not fitting of our state’s chief executive. People across our state, people across the political spectrum, and from all walks of life, including the Christian Civic League, have spoken out against the Governor’s vulgarity. Today, we are seeing who the governor’s supporters and friends are—they are the fringe, they are the bigots who spread fear and hatred. This is not Maine and not who we are as Mainers.”

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