No Censure for California Councilman's Antigay Email

A City Council member in Newport Beach, Calif., will not face censure over an anti-marriage equality email he sent to constituents in response to the Supreme Court ruling, his colleagues decided Tuesday.

The council, did, however, approve a resolution disassociating the city government from Councilman Scott Peotter's antigay comments, the Los Angeles Times reports.

Peotter's email, which bore the city seal and therefore looked like an official government communication, was the subject of two hours of discussion at Tuesday night's council meeting in the coastal community in Southern California's Orange County.

In the email, Peotter objected to the lighting of the White House in rainbow colors in celebration of the high court's June 26 marriage equality decision. "I do find it interesting that the homosexual movement adopted the rainbow as their symbol, as it was God's symbol that he wouldn't destroy the world by flood again," he wrote. "Maybe they are wishful thinking."

He added, "I know, the Supreme Court (that would be 5 out of 9 guys in black robes) decided ... to overturn 5,000 years of Judeo-Christian tradition by redefining and allowing gay marriage."

Some residents said Peotter has become an embarrassment to the city. "He was not elected to be the ayatollah of Newport Beach," Lori Morris said at the meeting, according to the Times. And council members said use of the seal on an email expressing personal opinions was confusing and possibly a violation of city law.

Peotter and his supporters, though, said the effort to censure him had more to do with the content of his email than his use of the seal. It "smacks of political correctness," he said. Councilman Keith Curry, who called for censure, did say Peotter's email could be construed as creating an anti-LGBT environment.

In the end, council members voted 4-3 to approve what the Times called a "softened version" of the censure resolution, simply distancing the city from Peotter's views.

"We need to stop acrimony over something that is not a city issue," said Mayor Pro Tem Diane Dixon, who presented the toned-down resolution. "It's time to move on, and it's time to do so tonight."

Read the full resolution passed by the Newport Beach City Council here.