THE HUFFINGTON POST:
New York City council member Ruben Díaz Sr. refuses to apologize for homophobic comments he made last week, despite criticism from the LGBTQ community and fellow council members.
“When I get to the City Council, I find that the City Council is controlled ― most council members out of 51 council members ― over there, everybody is controlled by the homosexual community,” the Democratic councilman and former state senator said during an interview on the Spanish language radio show “El Desahogo.”
As an example, Ruben Díaz Sr., 75, told the radio show that City Council Speaker Corey Johnson is gay and married to another man. Johnson, who is openly gay and single, called for an apology in a statement released Friday.
“Council Member Díaz Sr.’s homophobic comments are offensive to both the Speaker and the body, and have no place in New York City,” Johnson said in a Friday statement to NY1 News. “He should apologize to all of his colleagues, and the entire LGBTQ community.”
Ruben Díaz Sr., an ordained minister of Puerto Rican descent, has been on the city council since January 2018. Although he’s a Democrat, he’s known for his socially conservative views including his consistent opposition to gay marriage and abortion. In 2011, Ruben Díaz Sr. was the only Democratic member of the New York state Senate to vote against marriage equality.
The councilman’s son, Ruben Díaz Jr., called for an apology in a Saturday tweet and described his father’s comments as “antagonistic, quarrelsome and wholly unnecessary.”
