Jeffrey Sossa-Paquette is a Republican candidate running for the U.S. House of Representatives for Massachusetts' 2nd Congressional District.
He is also a gay man with two adopted children.
Sossa-Paquette was shocked to find out the GOP doesn't take too kindly to people like him.
The issue came up after The Boston Globe obtained emails showing Debbie Martell—a representative on the Republican State Committee—said she was "sickened" Sossa-Paquette and his husband had adopted children.
The whole situation is set to cause issues for the GOP in Massachusetts.
\u201cI am a Catholic ...What sickened me was that you adopted children. . . . Children deserve a mom and a dad. That\u2019s how God designed marriage and the family.\u201d\n\nNever ceases to amaze me how people use g-d to defend their hatred & bigotry. \n\nhttps://www.bostonglobe.com/2021/06/01/metro/republican-official-said-she-was-sickened-by-gay-congressional-candidate-adopting-children-with-his-husband-e-mails-show/?event=event25\u00a0\u2026 via @BostonGlobe— (((Howard Forman))) (@(((Howard Forman)))) 1622558683
Sossa-Paquette and his husband, Julian, have adopted two children.
After the comments by Martell, Sossa-Paquette tried to go to the GOP chairman of the state, Jim Lyons. Lyons told Sossa-Paquette he was not going to get involved.
Some Republicans in the state have defended Sossa-Paquette and called on Martell to step down, including moderate GOP Governor Charlie Baker. For her part, Martell has not responded publicly about the emails and her comments.
Sossa-Paquette said of the situation:
"This does not represent the Republican Party that I've defended for the last 20 years of my life."
Commenters online responded this absolutely represents the modern Republican Party.
Why is Jeffrey Sossa-Paquette stunned? C'mon now that's what the Republican party has been saying for the longest.https://www.indy100.com/news/jeffrey-sossa-paquette-deborah-martell-b1858905\u00a0\u2026— Rose\ud83c\udf39 (@Rose\ud83c\udf39) 1622753105
Jeffrey Sossa-Paquette should maybe consider not being a member of a political party that generally shares Deborah Martell\u2019s views of him.— Sarah (@Sarah) 1622559208
Member of the panthers eating your face party surprised when the panther eats their face.— WearYourMask-SaveYourNeighbor (@WearYourMask-SaveYourNeighbor) 1622558928
\u201cThis does not represent the Republican Party that I\u2019ve defended for the last 20 years of my life,\u201d he said. \nNo clue how he would have come to this view - it defies all evidence.https://www.bostonglobe.com/2021/06/01/metro/republican-official-said-she-was-sickened-by-gay-congressional-candidate-adopting-children-with-his-husband-e-mails-show/\u00a0\u2026— Peter O'Connor (@Peter O'Connor) 1622563849
Does he really not know who his teammates are?https://www.indy100.com/news/jeffrey-sossa-paquette-deborah-martell-b1858905\u00a0\u2026— Amie White \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8 she/her (@Amie White \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8 she/her) 1622750481
They never think that shit is going to be turned on them and then they are genuinely surprised when it is. If you are anyone other than a white male and you are a member of the R party you might have your head up your ass.— DEFUND & ABOLISH (@DEFUND & ABOLISH) 1622564234
Oh no, I can't believe that there are bigots in the Republican party. https://twitter.com/WBUR/status/1400135828425351169\u00a0\u2026— Jake @ HUB History (@Jake @ HUB History) 1622653798
Sossa-Paquette learned of the remarks after a colleague showed him the emails.
The emails read:
"I heard he was a 'married' homosexual man, who adopted children. I was sickened to hear this."
When he confronted Martell about the emails, she responded:
"I am a Catholic who loves God and His Ten Commandments. I wish the best for every person in the world, including you!"
"What sickened me was that you adopted children."
"Children deserve a mom and a dad. That's how God designed marriage and the family."
Despite a number of GOP officials siding with Sossa-Paquette, many more are silent on the issue, causing division in the party in the state.
Which is to be expected if the last several decades of the GOP are anything to go by.
He's been in it for TWENTY YEARS and says he's surprised by this— flora + fauna \ud83c\udff3\ufe0f\u200d\ud83c\udf08 (@flora + fauna \ud83c\udff3\ufe0f\u200d\ud83c\udf08) 1622559754
It absolutely does.\n\n\u201cThis does not represent the Republican Party that I\u2019ve defended for the last 20 years of my life.\u201dhttps://www.indy100.com/news/jeffrey-sossa-paquette-deborah-martell-b1858905\u00a0\u2026— Mz. Chievous \u2122\ufe0f (@Mz. Chievous \u2122\ufe0f) 1622761437
I do genuinely feel for this person. But, how are you "stunned" when the Republican platform is openly anti-lgbtq? https://www.indy100.com/news/jeffrey-sossa-paquette-deborah-martell-b1858905\u00a0\u2026pic.twitter.com/08RNp2eJkZ— Luke Johnson #BLM (@Luke Johnson #BLM) 1622751087
Seems like y\u2019all still have a lot of work to do but keep tryinghttps://twitter.com/wbur/status/1400135828425351169?s=21\u00a0\u2026— HODC (@HODC) 1622723344
State Representative Shawn Dooley who is also on the Republican State Committee, sent out a resolution to the 80 member group calling for a condemnation of Martell's "hateful ideology". While over 30 members have signed, that is still less than half of the members.
Sossa-Paquette is currently running for a seat held by Democratic Representative, Jim McGovern. How this controversy will affect the campaign remains to be seen.
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