Staff Reports
The Arizona House speaker, Ben Toma, who is a Republican, has decided that Democrats in the House will no longer have access to meeting rooms controlled by the speaker, except for caucus meetings and hearings. This decision comes after Toma stated that a Democratic representative “lied to” him about the nature of a drag story hour held at the Capitol on Tuesday.
Toma claimed that Democratic Rep. Lorena Austin sought his approval for the event in the Arizona House basement without informing him of the true nature of the event. Austin described the drag story hour as a “stakeholder meeting,” but Toma believed it was an event promoting what he called “dangerously perverse ideology” and co-hosted by Planned Parenthood.
Democrat Rep. Lorena Austin deliberately misled House leadership to reserve a conference room to host a drag story hour with Planned Parenthood.
Use of House facilities for radical activism to promote dangerously perverse ideology will not be tolerated while I am Speaker.
As… pic.twitter.com/yuOnkjn8zR
— Ben Toma (@RepBenToma) April 30, 2024
In response to the situation, Toma posted on social media that Democrats have lost the privilege of accessing House meeting rooms until trust can be restored. He asserted that the use of House facilities for promoting what he described as “dangerously perverse ideology” will not be tolerated while he is the Speaker.
Toma apparently did not become aware of what was happening in the House basement until it was too late. He sent legislative staff to revoke permission to use the space, but the event was already over.
The article further discusses a tweet from a political rival, fellow Republican Anthony Kern, calling attention to the event. Kern’s tweet questioned why Toma was allowing the drag story hour to take place.
On the other hand, House Democratic Whip Nancy Gutierrez denied that anyone had lied in requesting the use of the room and stated that the event was described as a drag story hour when Rep. Austin’s assistant called to reserve the room. She added that she and other Democrats were working toward a resolution.
The article also makes the claim that an event spokesman told the media that no minors were present for the drag story hour event, only a handful of adults listening to a storybook reading.
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