City councilor facing calls to resign says gender identity is “magical thinking”

Roseburg Council President Bob Cotterell
Photo: City of Roseburg

A city councilor for a town in Oregon was criticized after making an anti-trans remark in jest during a public virtual council session. After being called out for the remarks, the councilor made further derogatory, anti-trans remarks that have now led to calls that he resign his office.

The initial comment was made on June 28, as the council was preparing for a meeting. One councilmember’s name was misspelled, and another said the name resemble a typically feminine name, leading Council President Bob Cotterell to quip, “Well that’s fine, you’re in Oregon. You can be a boy today and a girl tomorrow.”

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After an awkward pause, Amy Sowa, the city’s recorder, “reminded people that those connected to the Zoom meeting could hear the councilor’s comments,” the News-Review reported. The remark wasn’t addressed and the meeting commenced as scheduled.

A city resident who heard the remark, Lan Ha, wrote an email the following day, expressing that she took offense to Cotterell’s comment.

“This was not appropriate for a public hearing and does not help in bettering our community, and actually isolates our LGBTQ+ members when made by our leaders,” Ha said.

Ha also called the council out for choosing to remain silent after the remark.

“I ask that our council is more thoughtful of this in the future during public meetings and for someone to actually stand up to discriminatory jokes/comments instead of just being silent after being told that there are public audience participants that are listening in afterwards,” she said.

After being called out in the email, several members of the council…

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