Joel Greenberg Refuses to Apologize - Despite Calls from Community Leaders
In addition to a history of harassing and hateful rhetoric against members of the Muslim community by Seminole County Tax Collector Joel Greenberg, a constituent of Greenberg's reached out to QLatinx with the below screenshot of a homophobic comment he made on social media.
Homophobic language is often dismissed as ‘harmless banter’ that isn’t intentionally hurtful - however when homophobic language goes unchallenged, this has a clear negative impact on a person's sense of belonging and self-esteem. The use of homophobic language can quickly escalate into more serious homophobic bullying. Greenberg’s comment refers to former Orlando Magic player JJ Redick, while he was attending a local concert and looking down at his phone. While Redick, who was the subject of this comment, does not identify as gay - the use of Greenberg's comment refers to the action as bad or unlikable, which can lead those to think being gay is bad and that it’s acceptable to treat gay people less favorably.
We are increasingly disappointed by Greenberg's behavior, and continue to join the community in calls for a public apology and for him to announce his resignation from his role as Tax Collector.
On Wednesday, August 22 our community will rally to demand accountability from Greenberg. Below is a link to register for this action. Community members are also being urged to sign this petition: https://somos.presente.org/p/joelgottago
