The Anti Gay Homophobe of The Bronx Will Get New LGBTQ PAC Campaign to Expose Him

 

Shant Shahrigian

  New York Daily News

 Opponents of a Bronx pol infamous for homophobic comments are taking the fight to his base, launching a campaign seeking to inform Christians and Spanish-speaking voters about his controversial record.

The Bronx United political action committee launched over the weekend with English- and Spanish-language videos casting Councilman Ruben Diaz Sr. as a bigot and fake Democrat as he runs for Congress.

“I know first-hand what it feels like,” Rev. Carmen Hernandez, a Bronx-based LGBT rights activist, says in the video, which features blurbs about Diaz’s homophobic stances. “Who gives you the right to hurt another human being?”

She accuses Diaz, a Pentecostal minister, of exploiting voters of faith.

“In the Bronx, there are churches on every corner. He’s using the Christian people to win the votes,” she says. “Where are the LGBT people that need to come out?

Thanks to supporting from conservative-leaning Bronxites, Diaz has continuously been in office since 2003. He did not immediately answer a request for comment.

Bronx United is trying to chip away at his base by pointing out his most outrageous comments, like saying, “The Council ... is controlled by the homosexual community.”

He’s called gay people “cursed” and likened them to “drug addicts” — all facts noted in the new PAC’s video.

Diaz also infamously said he’d never report a colleague for sexual harassment because that would make him a “rat.”

While he’s running in a Democratic primary, Diaz has welcomed Republicans including Sen. Ted Cruz and Rob Astorino when they were campaigning in the Bronx for higher offices.

The crowded race for the 15th congressional seat includes Councilman Ritchie Torres, who is openly gay, and democratic socialist Samelys Lopez. 

But the new PAC is not endorsing any individual. Its message in targeted social media and on-the-ground canvassing will be “#anyonebutdiaz.”