Republican Lawmaker Asks Lesbian Colleague if She’s a Pedophile
Donald Padgett
Thu, March 23, 2023
Republican Lawmaker Asks Lesbian Colleague if She’s a Pedophile
A lawmaker in Rhode Island asked a lesbian legislator if she was a pedophile during a heated discussion over an equity and inclusion bill on Friday.
As reported by the Providence Journal, the State House was debating HB 5763 known as the Equity Impact Statement Act when Rep. Robert Quattrocchi asked Rep. Rebecca Kislak if she was a pedophile while questioning the cost and need for the legislation.
The exchange was caught on video and showed the chamber erupting in shock and anger moments later.
HB 5763 would require all legislation submitted to the general assembly to include an equity impact statement listing potential impact based on “race, color, ethnicity, religion, sex sexual orientation, gender expression, disability, age or country of ancestral origin.” The bill would further require listing historic disparities of these groups and existing efforts to correct them, as well as ensuring that the proposed legislation would not negatively impact these communities.
“It just seems like a lot,” Quattrocchi asked Kislak during the hearing. “You don’t feel that all the anti-discrimination laws that we have already, which are many, protecting all these classes that you’re, that are listed in this bill?”
He described the bill as “very, very broad” in its reporting requirements and questioned how it would be implemented.
“Do I have to take into account, for instance, religion?” Quattrocchi continued. “Do I have to take into account how it affects Satan and Satanists in Rhode Island? Or do I have to take into account with sexual orientation — how it affects pedophiles in Rhode Island? Anything like that?
“Well, first I want to appoint out that pedophile is not a sexual orientation,” Kislak answered coolly.
“Oh, I'm sorry,” Quattrocchi reponded.
“So like my equity right now is pointing out that that was really offensive,” Kislak continued.
“Oh I didn't mean to,” Quattrocchi trailed off before asking, “Are you a pedophile?”
The chamber descended into chaos before Rep. Evan Shanley restored order. Quattrocchi immediately apologized and later called the incident a misunderstanding but also said he could provide no further comment.
“Because I have not been advised by the Speaker’s Office as to his intentions regarding this matter, I cannot offer further comment at this time,'” Quattrocchi said in a statement on Tuesday.
Out gay House Speaker K. Joseph Shekarchi described the question as “insulting” and “reprehensible” and said Quattrocchi’s statement was “a step in the right direction” but didn’t go far enough.
A coalition of LGBTQ+ advocacy and support groups signed a public letter on Tuesday condemning Quattrocchi’s question.
“Rhode Island has been a leader in recognizing and protecting equality for the LGBTQ+ community. The people of this state are proud of that legacy.” the letter stated. “Our representatives should be working to ensure safety, dignity, and equity for all residents, not perpetuating dangerous, false comparisons that undermine the humanity of LGBTQ+ people.”
In his statement on Tuesday, Quattrocchi said he had apologized to Kislak on at least four separate occasions, though Kislak disputed that claim.
“It is not an apology,” Kislak told The Journal.
You can watch the entire exchange below.
"Are you a pedophile?" asks RI Rep Robert Quattrocchi (Republican, District 41, Scituate) www.youtube.com
The GOP lawmaker who asked a Democratic colleague who is one of two openly LGBTQ members in the House if she was a pedophile doubled down on Thursday after he was removed from the legislative committee
Katherine Gregg, The Providence Journal
Fri, March 24, 2023
PROVIDENCE — The GOP lawmaker who asked a Democratic colleague who is one of two openly LGBTQ members in the House if she was a pedophile doubled down on Thursday after he was removed from the legislative committee in which the confrontation took place last week.
In a statement read aloud by the House clerk, House Speaker K. Joseph Shekarchi gave this explanation for removing Rep. Robert Quattrocchi, R-Scituate, from the House Committee on State Government and Elections:
"While asking questions as a member of the committee, Representative Robert Quattrocchi made several references about the applicability of the legislation to 'Satanists' and 'pedophiles' and directly asked Representative Kislak, 'Are you a pedophile?' "
"Representative Quattrocchi’s statements to Representative Kislak during the March 17 hearing are not in keeping with the decorum or the integrity of this body. Use of suggestive and offensive language and the disparagement of an esteemed colleague will not be tolerated in this chamber.
"I hereby direct that Representative Robert Quattrocchi be removed as a member of the House Committee on State Government and Elections, effective immediately."
Rep. Robert J. Quattrocchi, R-Scituate
Quattrocchi: 'I won't bend a knee to a man or a woman. I'll bend my knee to God.'
In response, House Minority Leader Michael Chippendale accused Shekarchi of bowing under pressure from a "mob," and Quattrocchi gave a not-sorry speech on the floor in which he "confess[ed] to my guilt for calling out evil, an evil act against children.
"And because I did that, evil came for me through my answering machine in the most disgusting, vile, I don't even know how to describe it, language, whatever it is. Evil wished the rape of my children, my mother, my death, for me to be shot in the head."
He said some of the emails he received were even more vile.
"All this for asking questions, not making statements, not making accusations, not talking about any groups of people ... [but] doing the job that my constituents sent me here to do, using what I thought was my ... freedom of speech. Excuse me, what was left of it.
"So if God put me here to be a lightning rod, so be it," the Scituate Republican said. "I won't bend a knee to a man or a woman. I'll bend my knee to God, and [when] my time is done, I will accept God's judgment. That's the only judgment I care about."
What was the context of Quattrocchi's remark?
The action came in the wake of Quattrocchi's remarks to Rep. Rebecca Kislak, D-Providence, during the committee's hearing last Friday on Kislak's bill H 5763, which would require that lawmakers take into account the impact of their bills on people of different races, religions and sexual orientations.
"It seems very, very broad," said Quattrocchi, who was then still a member of the committee.
"In my thinking about [bills] that I want to present … do I have to take into account, for instance … how it affects Satanists in Rhode Island?" Quattrocchi asked. "Or do I have to take into account, with 'sexual orientation,' how it affects pedophiles in Rhode Island — anything like that?"
"Pedophile is not a sexual orientation," Kislak responded. And "that was really offensive."
"Oh, I didn't mean to. Are you a pedophile? I'm sorry," Quattrocchi said to Kislak, a Providence Democrat who describes herself as a lesbian.
In the days since, a number of advocacy groups have condemned Quattrocchi for using a hurtful stereotype to mischaracterize LGBTQ people, while Shekarchi himself called the remarks "reprehensible."
"It was insulting to a colleague of the House and it is not the kind of decorum I expect in the House of Representatives," said Shekarchi, who is gay.
Quattrocchi issued a statement on Tuesday attributing the controversy to what he called "a misunderstanding," but he had not publicly apologized as of the start of the Thursday House session.
Shekarchi said Quattrocchi needs to go the next step and publicly apologize "in whatever forum he wants but yes, there should be a public apology ... because the effect of his words were extremely hurtful to the LGBT community."
At that point, Shekarchi said, he was still evaluating his options.
House minority leader calls reaction 'a grave distraction'
Shekarchi's decision to remove Quattrocchi from the committee considering the "equity impact" legislation was described as a "measured and fair" response to uphold decorum by spokesman Larry Berman. It was also the least severe of the actions he could have taken, from censure on up, and was not unprecedented.
The response from House Minority Leader Chippendale, R-Foster:
"The reaction to, and resultant decision from the rostrum regarding the inartful exchange between two of our colleagues in a committee hearing six days ago has unleashed a whirlwind which is both a grave distraction from the important issues this institution is grappling with, and a 180-degree departure from the longstanding practice of the House.
"I fear that we have reached a point where the norms that govern this institution and which have made our debates over the years civil, if occasionally heated, have been irretrievably broken," Chippendale said.
Committee assignments are at the discretion of the House speaker, who has the power to appoint and remove a legislator, as was done as recently as last year. Shekarchi removed then-Rep. Carlos Tobon from the House Finance Committee after a WPRI exposé of his undisclosed financial activities.
Former Speaker Nicholas Mattiello removed several lawmakers from their committees who were unwilling to vote for the truck toll legislation, and replaced chairs who publicly criticized him. And the list goes on.
Quattrocchi remains on two other committees.
The stated goal of the legislation at the heart of the current dispute: "A simple and understandable statement demonstrating that the bill sponsor has taken into account the impact, positive or negative, that the legislation will likely have on Rhode Islanders based on their race, color, ethnicity, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, disability, age or country of ancestral origin."
This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Speaker removes from House committee a Republican who asked fellow lawmaker if she is a pedophile
Katherine Gregg, The Providence Journal
Fri, March 24, 2023
PROVIDENCE — The GOP lawmaker who asked a Democratic colleague who is one of two openly LGBTQ members in the House if she was a pedophile doubled down on Thursday after he was removed from the legislative committee in which the confrontation took place last week.
In a statement read aloud by the House clerk, House Speaker K. Joseph Shekarchi gave this explanation for removing Rep. Robert Quattrocchi, R-Scituate, from the House Committee on State Government and Elections:
"While asking questions as a member of the committee, Representative Robert Quattrocchi made several references about the applicability of the legislation to 'Satanists' and 'pedophiles' and directly asked Representative Kislak, 'Are you a pedophile?' "
"Representative Quattrocchi’s statements to Representative Kislak during the March 17 hearing are not in keeping with the decorum or the integrity of this body. Use of suggestive and offensive language and the disparagement of an esteemed colleague will not be tolerated in this chamber.
"I hereby direct that Representative Robert Quattrocchi be removed as a member of the House Committee on State Government and Elections, effective immediately."
Rep. Robert J. Quattrocchi, R-Scituate
Quattrocchi: 'I won't bend a knee to a man or a woman. I'll bend my knee to God.'
In response, House Minority Leader Michael Chippendale accused Shekarchi of bowing under pressure from a "mob," and Quattrocchi gave a not-sorry speech on the floor in which he "confess[ed] to my guilt for calling out evil, an evil act against children.
"And because I did that, evil came for me through my answering machine in the most disgusting, vile, I don't even know how to describe it, language, whatever it is. Evil wished the rape of my children, my mother, my death, for me to be shot in the head."
He said some of the emails he received were even more vile.
"All this for asking questions, not making statements, not making accusations, not talking about any groups of people ... [but] doing the job that my constituents sent me here to do, using what I thought was my ... freedom of speech. Excuse me, what was left of it.
"So if God put me here to be a lightning rod, so be it," the Scituate Republican said. "I won't bend a knee to a man or a woman. I'll bend my knee to God, and [when] my time is done, I will accept God's judgment. That's the only judgment I care about."
What was the context of Quattrocchi's remark?
The action came in the wake of Quattrocchi's remarks to Rep. Rebecca Kislak, D-Providence, during the committee's hearing last Friday on Kislak's bill H 5763, which would require that lawmakers take into account the impact of their bills on people of different races, religions and sexual orientations.
"It seems very, very broad," said Quattrocchi, who was then still a member of the committee.
"In my thinking about [bills] that I want to present … do I have to take into account, for instance … how it affects Satanists in Rhode Island?" Quattrocchi asked. "Or do I have to take into account, with 'sexual orientation,' how it affects pedophiles in Rhode Island — anything like that?"
"Pedophile is not a sexual orientation," Kislak responded. And "that was really offensive."
"Oh, I didn't mean to. Are you a pedophile? I'm sorry," Quattrocchi said to Kislak, a Providence Democrat who describes herself as a lesbian.
In the days since, a number of advocacy groups have condemned Quattrocchi for using a hurtful stereotype to mischaracterize LGBTQ people, while Shekarchi himself called the remarks "reprehensible."
"It was insulting to a colleague of the House and it is not the kind of decorum I expect in the House of Representatives," said Shekarchi, who is gay.
Quattrocchi issued a statement on Tuesday attributing the controversy to what he called "a misunderstanding," but he had not publicly apologized as of the start of the Thursday House session.
Shekarchi said Quattrocchi needs to go the next step and publicly apologize "in whatever forum he wants but yes, there should be a public apology ... because the effect of his words were extremely hurtful to the LGBT community."
At that point, Shekarchi said, he was still evaluating his options.
House minority leader calls reaction 'a grave distraction'
Shekarchi's decision to remove Quattrocchi from the committee considering the "equity impact" legislation was described as a "measured and fair" response to uphold decorum by spokesman Larry Berman. It was also the least severe of the actions he could have taken, from censure on up, and was not unprecedented.
The response from House Minority Leader Chippendale, R-Foster:
"The reaction to, and resultant decision from the rostrum regarding the inartful exchange between two of our colleagues in a committee hearing six days ago has unleashed a whirlwind which is both a grave distraction from the important issues this institution is grappling with, and a 180-degree departure from the longstanding practice of the House.
"I fear that we have reached a point where the norms that govern this institution and which have made our debates over the years civil, if occasionally heated, have been irretrievably broken," Chippendale said.
Committee assignments are at the discretion of the House speaker, who has the power to appoint and remove a legislator, as was done as recently as last year. Shekarchi removed then-Rep. Carlos Tobon from the House Finance Committee after a WPRI exposé of his undisclosed financial activities.
Former Speaker Nicholas Mattiello removed several lawmakers from their committees who were unwilling to vote for the truck toll legislation, and replaced chairs who publicly criticized him. And the list goes on.
Quattrocchi remains on two other committees.
The stated goal of the legislation at the heart of the current dispute: "A simple and understandable statement demonstrating that the bill sponsor has taken into account the impact, positive or negative, that the legislation will likely have on Rhode Islanders based on their race, color, ethnicity, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, disability, age or country of ancestral origin."
This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Speaker removes from House committee a Republican who asked fellow lawmaker if she is a pedophile
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