S.J. Jung, a Democrat who is in the race against Sen. Toby Ann Stavisky for New York’s senatorial seat, is under fire for comments he made regarding the LGBT community, in which he pledged to fight to ban pictures of same-sex couples from appearing in school textbooks.
A New York Daily News article published earlier this week released Jung’s comments to the public, which caused immediate outcry from the LGBT community.
Jung made the comments back in March, in front of a group that mostly comprised members of Korean churches.
He is being criticized by members of the Queens gay community, where Jung is campaigning, as well as the National Queer Asian Pacific Islander Alliance (NQAPIA), a federation of AAPI LGBT organizations.
“As LGBTQ Korean Americans, their family members and their allies, we are deeply disappointed to see a man who has done such important work in Korean American communities express such bigotry around LGBTQ communities, marriage and public education, NQAPIA said in a joint statement.
In the same statement, the nine AAPI groups, which includes Korean American Rainbow Parents and the Asian Pride Project, also asked Jung to reevaluate his position and meet with the organizations that have signed the statement.
Jung has not denied making the comments. “I believe this is a matter of distinction, not a matter of discrimination,” he told New York Daily News. He said he believes “in the Bible’s teaching that marriage is between a man and a woman.”
