[ad_1]
A Pennsylvania lawmaker has apologized for sharing an image mocking the appearance of the recently deceased Secretary of State for Health, Dr Rachel Levine, a transgender woman nominated to serve in the Biden administration.
State Representative Jeff Pyle, a Republican from Armstrong and Indiana Counties in western Pennsylvania, said on Facebook that he “had no idea” of the post mocking Levine ” would … received as badly as it was “, and said” tens of thousands of passionate emails assured me it was “.
“I owe an apology and I humbly offer it,” Pyle said, without specifically apologizing to Levine or other transgender people. He later apologized “to all concerned”.
Levine did not comment. The state’s health department did not immediately respond to an email requesting a reaction to Pyle’s message or his apology. Comments on his Facebook page called on him to resign.
Joe Biden brought in Levine a day before his inauguration as Assistant Secretary of Health, leaving her poised to become the first openly transgender federal official confirmed by the US Senate.
Pyle, who was first elected in 2004, cited a conversation with the Democratic leader in the House of Representatives “which explained the error of my post.” He said he didn’t come up with the meme but just shared it, although he said he shouldn’t have.
“From this situation, I learned not to make fun of people other than me and to hold my tongue,” he writes. “Be a bigger man.”
Pyle wrote that he would be leaving Facebook “soon” but not resigning and that he would focus on a Butler Community College project and the economic revitalization of Pennsylvania amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
[ad_2]
Source link