Kentucky Democrats call on GOP senator to resign after comments about drag queens
The Kentucky Democratic Party Thursday called on Sen. Phillip Wheeler, R-Pikeville, to resign after he showed a crowd of voters a picture of Gov. Andy Beshear with a group of drag queens and said Beshear was “trying to convince our children this is the right way to live.”
The Democratic Party said Wheeler has a “history of bigoted attitudes,” referencing a Facebook post Wheeler made in January that used a racist term in reference to the governor of Virginia.
“It’s time for Phillip Wheeler to go. He’s an embarrassment to the Commonwealth of Kentucky, and his hateful, ignorant comments do not have any place in the Statehouse,” said Marisa McNee, spokeswoman for Kentucky Democrats. “If Senator Wheeler does not resign, the Senate must censure him immediately.”
Wheeler said Thursday he will not resign and that he stands by what he said.
“When you have a particular group that mocks Christian religion and traditional values in the Capitol, I have a problem with that,” Wheeler said.
At a Saturday campaign stop in Elliott County for Rep.-elect Richard White, Wheeler denounced Beshear and the Democratic Party while showed a picture of Beshear posing with the Kentucky Order of the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, an LGBTQ charity group formed in San Francisco in the 1970s. The photo was taken last week, when Beshear became the first sitting Kentucky governor to speak at a statewide LGBTQ rally.
“Even when I was a young man, that kind of stuff just didn’t fly,” Wheeler, 41, said in the video. “Now it seems like it’s everywhere.”
Wheeler told the Herald-Leader Wednesday that he was simply talking about the way the group was dressed — specifically one man who was wearing horns and another who used an old KFC bucket to make a nun’s habit.
Senate President Robert Stivers, R-Manchester, told reporters Thursday that he had not seen the comments or watched the video. When told what Wheeler said, Stivers said he believed Wheeler’s assertion that his comments were not about gay people, but instead about how the group was dressed.
“It’s not my place to make judgment,” Stivers said. “And I’m not going to make judgment in this because I have been interpreted on many occasions on things I have said on things I believe are totally wrong and if he says he has no problem, I take him at his word. If the governor feels that way, that’s the way he feels.”
Beshear stopped short of calling for Wheeler’s resignation, saying instead that Wheeler should apologize to the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence.
“I certainly think at this point, he owes a direct apology to every individual in that photo and I believe that if you are a representative or a senator, you’re supposed to represent every single person in your district,” Beshear said. “And to spread intolerance, I believe is antithetical to your role as a representative of the people.”
Beshear dismissed Wheeler’s defense of his comments.
“They were absolutely homophobic,” Beshear said. “I don’t think he is the fashion police for the Capitol.”
Wheeler said he has no issue with gay people, but when asked if he supports a long-proposed bill to protect LGBTQ Kentuckians from discrimination in housing and employment, Wheeler said he had not read it.
On Facebook, the Derby City Sisters (the Louisville order of the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence), said they would like to sit down with Wheeler and White to talk.
“You judge us, without knowing us, just to score political points,” the post said. “We are a nonprofit, who seeks to let everyone know that they are loved and that they belong. We advocate for those without a voice. We are dedicated to community service, and we humbly promote human rights and respect for diversity. So gentleman, would you like to actually get to know us before you judge us?”
Wheeler said he is not willing to sit down with the sisters.
“If they’re going to mock the Christian religion, I’m not interested in having a discussion with them,” he said. “They’re not going to convince me that it’s appropriate.”
