Matt Putorti is an openly gay Democrat currently running for the 21st Congressional District seat in the House of Representatives. Yesterday, he shared a voicemail he received from an anonymous caller accusing him of being a spy before dropping a bunch of antigay slurs.
“As an out gay person, I was really excited to announce my campaign for Congress during #pride and knew what I was getting into,” Putorti wrote. “Less than a week later, I got this anonymous voicemail full of hate and homophobia. [Trigger warning.] While I’m not surprised, it’s not ok.”
?#Thread: As an out gay person, I was really excited to announce my campaign for Congress during #pride and knew what I was getting into. Less than a week later, I got this anonymous voicemail full of hate and homophobia. [Trigger warning.] While I’m not surprised, it’s not ok. pic.twitter.com/mwhZOc0IVg
— Matt Putorti (@MattPutorti) June 21, 2021
Putorti followed that up with another one calling on Congress to pass the Equality Act, and then another one with a message to the anonymous caller.
“Finally, to the caller: My queer siblings and I are braver than you will ever be. But, if you want to talk person-to-person in a civil manner, please reach out; we can share a spaghetti dinner together.”
Finally, to the caller: My queer siblings and I are braver than you will ever be. But, if you want to talk person-to-person in a civil manner, please reach out; we can share a spaghetti dinner together.
— Matt Putorti (@MattPutorti) June 21, 2021
Speaking to local media, Putorti said he would be more than happy to sit down with the anonymous caller and have a heart-to-heart with him.
“One way to solve some fo these problems is to get to know each other. Maybe he doesn’t know a queer person,” he said. “I think that is one of the ways we can fix this hate that exists.”
Putorti, who is an insurance recovery and advisory lawyer, is hoping to win the Democratic primary so he can unseat Rep. Elise Stefanik, the antigay Trump Republican who replaced Liz Cheney when she was ousted as Chair of the House Republican Conference.
Within days of him announcing his candidacy, Stefanik began attacking Putorti, calling him a “socialist Democrat” and a “far-left” New York City lawyer who donated money to Pete Buttigieg, Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, and Kamala Harris, among others.
Putorti’s campaign responded in a statement by saying, “It says a lot that Elise Stefanik is so terrified of a challenger that she immediately resorted to outright distortions of who Matt is and why he is running.”
“Matt has made political contributions to Democrats up and down the ballot. In 2020 Matt donated to multiple Democrats in the Presidential primary because he believed defeating Donald Trump was critically important to our democracy.”
Graham Gremore is the Features Editor and a Staff Writer at Queerty. Follow him on Twitter @grahamgremore.
Daniel M
You don’t mention which state the relevant 21st Congressional District is in. It’s New York. In case anybody else was wondering.
Max
fed up with Republicans throwing around “socialist democrats” labels at candidates.
also fed up with anonymous callers that use that calling platform to hide behind and spout their low IQ phobic messages. I cannot believe people were raised to be that ignorant and hateful.
James Hart
The 21st Congressional District in New York is very conservative. I’m guessing that Elise Stefanik will win.
bluewindboy
NY-21 will look very different by the time NY gets done redistricting. Who knows if Stefanik will be electable?
rbernard
I hope he wins.