CHARLOTTE, N.C. — LaWana Mayfield has yet again stirred up controversy with one of her tweets, appearing to threaten to expose a politician for using the gay dating and hookup app Grindr.
Mayfield asked on Sunday if it should be “fair game” to out someone as being on Grindr “with pictures of their private parts.” She ended her tweet with #knowwhoyoumaybevoting4.
Question for You all. When candidates and those that are extremely judgemental have a @Grindr page with pictures of their private parts should that be fair game? BTW #grindr is a same-sex site #knowwhoyoumaybevoting4
— LaWana Mayfield (@lawanamayfield) March 18, 2018
Mayfield, who identifies as queer herself, said on Monday she wasn’t referring to anyone in particular, The Charlotte Observer reports. Instead, she claimed to be upset over hypocritical public officials and said her tweet was hypothetical.
She added that she didn’t know of anyone “yet” who fit her description, but added “if I find out, I will go ahead and expose you. I can’t stand the hypocrisy.”
Mayfield also referenced Pennsylvania Republican congressman Tim Murphy, who resigned after it was revealed that he had an affair with a woman who claims he pressured her into getting an abortion. This in spite of his stated pro-life stance.
She also claimed to be upset by elected officials who “say it’s morally wrong to be in a same-sex relationship, but then they are caught in a bathroom.”
Some reacted to Mayfield’s tweet in a supportive manner, but others were upset, calling her remarks homophobic.
MeckPAC Chair Matt Comer criticized her comments on Facebook, the Observer reports, saying “private and consensual relationships between adults, even if conducted on ‘dating’ or ‘hookup’ apps, is absolutely no one’s business – not voters, not the media, no one.”
He also criticized her “lack of nuanced approach to this issue,” arguing it “created a tremendous amount of anti-gay shaming and anti-sex stigma harmful to our community.”
“She’s taken no responsibility for that and the homophobic and sex-shaming posts made on her profile are still up,” Comer continued.
He added that the one exception he saw as acceptable is the act of outing “hypocritical anti-gay politician trolling for gay sex.” He expanded on those thoughts on Twitter, writing that homophobia and stigma are “real, even inside our own community, sadly.”
I'm incredibly disappointed that my last 24+ hours has consisted of countering arguments from a leader of my LGBTQ community more suited to an argument with an anti-LGBTQ activist. Homophobia and stigma against LGBTQ love/sexuality is real, even inside our own community, sadly.
— Matt Comer (@TheMattComer) March 19, 2018
MeckPAC has endorsed Mayfield in the past. She was first elected to city council in 2011, and won reelection most recently this past year.
In a decidedly non-hypothetical situation, an openly gay 19-year-old city council member in Texas recently had nude photos taken from conversations he was having on Grindr leaked to his colleagues, as well as local media outlets. The young politician, named Cross Coburn, has said he believes the act was the result of a homophobic smear campaign meant to oust him from office.
Not the first time Mayfield’s Twitter habits have landed her into hot water
Mayfield is no stranger to controversy stemming from her tweets.
She came in for criticism back in October for comparing President Donald Trump to Adolf Hitler, and garnered headlines for saying she would not patronize a new barbecue restaurant set to open in her district, due to owner Jim Noble’s opposition to LGBTQ rights.
UPDATE: Mayfield has responded to this story on Instagram:
