GOP Lawmaker Sues Newspaper For Reporting His Anti-Gay Slur

Two years ago, during a Marathon County Board meeting in Wausau, Wisconsin, a resolution regarding diversity and inclusion was brought up. Things escalated quickly and a local buisinessman, Cory Tomczyk, called a 13 year old boy a "f*g."

Acting on a tip, the Wausau Pilot & Review followed up on the story and, after interviewing some witnesses and following up on some social media accounts, felt confident enough to run with story.

Tomczyk, who is now a Republican state senator, denied saying the slur and demanded a retraction from the paper. The paper stood their ground and Tomczyk sued them.

During the trial, witnesses came forward to share the same story and Tomczyk himself admitted that this wouldn't have been an isolated incident:

After the contentious meeting, as word of the incident lit up the social media feeds of people in and around Wausau, Ms. Siewert worked to verify what had happened. As part of her reporting, she obtained a Facebook message from the 13-year-old boy’s mother, who had attended to support her son. The mother wrote to a friend that she’d heard a man she didn’t know utter the slur.

read more