Rep. Allen West Intern Fired for Pro-Gay Tweet

Anti-Tracy Morgan post was apparently not authorized
By Evann Gastaldo,  Newser Staff
Posted Jun 13, 2011 12:30 PM CDT
Rep. Allen West Intern Fired for Pro-Gay Tweet
Allen West listens during a Tea Party Town Hall meeting February 8, 2011 at the National Press Club in Washington, DC.   (Getty Images)

Another day, another Congressional Twitter controversy. An intern for Rep. Allen West, a Florida Republican who believes “gay marriage is an oxymoron,” was fired after retweeting an unauthorized, pro-gay message on West’s official feed on Friday, Roll Call reports. The intern retweeted an anti-Tracy Morgan comment from the band Scissor Sisters (which has three openly gay members); by Friday afternoon the retweet had been removed and an apology posted in its place.

“Dear Tracy Morgan’s son: if you are gay, you can TOTALLY come live with me. We’ll read James Baldwin & watch Paris is Burning. xxANA,” read the retweet. Friday’s response, which has also since been deleted: “Very sorry about the unauthorized RT. We were not hacked, an intern made an error. Apologies to all.” Apparently all this happened while West’s staff was on a retreat in Fort Lauderdale, leaving the interns to run the office. Click for more on the Tracy Morgan rant that inspired the whole incident, or to read about another Twitter victim. (More Twitter stories.)

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