A St. Paul City Council member whose social media history appears to celebrate the criminalization of homosexuality in Uganda, among other anti-gay measures, is reaping criticism from his council peers and gay advocates.
Stonewall DFL and MYDFL, the LGBTQ and youth caucuses of the Minnesota DFL, issued a joint statement calling for Council Member Kassim Busuri to resign. They plan to present a resolution at the St. Paul DFL convention on Sunday asking the party to back their statement.
On Thursday evening, Council Member Mitra Nelson — the council’s only openly gay or bisexual member — called Busuri’s refusal to apologize for his Facebook history “a breach of the expectations we have for those entrusted with public service in our community.”
OutFront Minnesota, the state’s largest LGBTQ advocacy organization, also reached out to Busuri on Thursday to ask for a public apology.
Busuri, who was appointed by the council this year to represent Ward 6 on St. Paul’s East Side, has said his Muslim faith does not support homosexuality, and criticisms of his past social media posts are tantamount to Islamophobia.
In statements on his campaign page and interviews with the media, he has pledged to represent all of his constituents — regardless of sexual orientation — but refused to recant his past remarks.
Some critics have questioned why council members would be taken aback by Busuri’s religious views after vetting him among 15 finalists and unanimously confirming his appointment to the Ward 6 seat in January.
Calls for Busuri’s resignation began shortly after Nelson, who also was raised in a Muslim family, read a council resolution into the public record on Wednesday celebrating June as Pride Month. This year marks the 50th anniversary of the historic Stonewall riots in New York City, widely seen as a rallying point for gay advocates.
The resolution was sponsored by six of the seven council members — everyone but Busuri. That same day, critics later circulated screenshots of seemingly anti-gay comments Busuri had posted to Facebook in 2013, 2014 and 2015.
In a statement posted to social media on Thursday, Nelson called herself a “queer, bi, out and proud elected official from a supportive Muslim family,” and said that Busuri “should be accountable for his statements” at a time of “unprecedented attacks on our LGBTQIA community from the highest levels of government.”
Council Member Chris Tolbert said on Thursday that Busuri’s “refusal to stand up for … our LGBTQ community speaks volumes, despite whatever explanations he offers.” Council Member Dai Thao also posted remarks to Facebook, calling homophobia “structural oppression” and saying he was “proud to stand with with my LGBTQ friends, neighbors and Stonewall DFL.”