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Montana Twit Fired As President Of Tea Party Group Over Comments Implying Support For Anti-LGBT Lynchings

09/08/10-by Bridgette P. LaVictoire
Montana is the site of one of the bigger spats in the Tea Party lately as the president of a Montana tea party group has been kicked to the curb by the organization after he made several Facebook statements which seemed to condone violence- actually lynching- of lesbians and gays.  After all, Twitter is not the only place that someone can make a twit out of themselves.  What is more, it shows something of the dark underbelly of the Tea Party movement.  The reality is that many within these organizations are homophobic, transphobic, Islamophobic, antisemetic, and racist.  While not all are, those that are taint the groups as a whole.

The Big Sky Tea Party Association, however, voted to remove Tim Ravndal from the group after some members found out about the online conversation which happened in July.  It began as a comment about an American Civil Liberties Union lawsuit regarding rights for same-sex couples.  Ravndal, who was elected only this past August, apologized for the comments; however, chairman Jim Walker stated “We continually make it known that we will not tolerate bigoted dialogue, behavior or messages at our functions, our meetings or within our ranks.  If a person demonstrates bigotry relative to sex, ethnicity, etc., they are not welcome in our organization. The Tea Party movement is about standing up for individual freedom for everyone.”

For their part, BSTPA is one of the more vigilant with regards to bigotry and prejusice.

The 23 July Facebook exchange has been removed, but it was screen-shot before it was removed.  It started with Ravndal posting “Marriage is between a man and a woman period! By giving rights to those otherwise would be a violation of the Constitution and my own rights.”  Of course, this appears to mean that it violates his right to hate lesbians and gays.

Another Facebook user posted in reply “I think fruits are decorative. Hang up where they can be seen and appreciated. Call Wyoming for display instructions.”  ‘Fruit’, of course, being a slang term for a gay man.  Ravndal responded to it by saying “Where can I get that Wyoming printed instruction manual?”

Not only was the exchange discussing, basically, lynching lesbians and gays, but it also appeared to reference the murder of University of Wyoming student Matthew Shepard.  According to reports, Shepard was targeted because he was gay, and that he was beaten and tied to a fence post where he died.

Montana Human Rights Network organizers became aware of the exchange on Friday 3 September and contacted BSTPA.  They called for Ravndal’s removal and for the association to clarify its position.  BSTPA did that.  Ravndal was removed two days later.  Organizer Kim Abbott of MHRN stated “We think that they moved swiftly, they condemned the anti-gay rhetoric.  We’re especially happy about the unequivocal statements that the tea party will not welcome this type of inflammatory, bigoted behavior into their party, and we hope they stick to it.”

Ravndal, for his part, claimed to be the victim in that he feels that the BSTPA, basically, left him to the wolves, and that he did not know that the Facebook conversation was referencing Shepard.  He told KTVH-TV in Helena, MT “I’ve gotta be honest, that was over ten years ago…the Matthew Shepard case.”  Of course, it also shows that he was not really paying attention to the news this year as the Matthew Shepard case has been in the news as President Barack Obama signed the Matthew Shepard Act making it a Federal crime to commit hate crimes.

Roger Nummerdor, a board member of the group, has stated that they did not know about the comments until it was brought to their attention.  According to Nummerdor “It just hit us right in the gut,” Nummerdor said. “We don’t want to be painted with the same brush as he painted himself. . .I think his being head of the tea party, it’s going to definitely require us to repair some bridges,” Nummerdor said. “How bad it is, I don’t know.”

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