Memphis-based radio talk show host Thaddeus Matthews is being condemned today for homophobic comments and false accusations targeting Memphis City Council candidate Davin Clemons. If elected this October, Clemons would become the first openly LGBTQ person on the city council.
On his radio show Monday night, Matthews stated he is only interested in the Memphis mayoral race and the district six council race because Clemons is an openly gay candidate. On Wednesday and Thursday nights, Matthews devoted two two-hour podcasts to lambasting Davin’s sexual orientation.
“I’m not going to hold him being a homosexual against him,” Matthews said, adding his support for Clemons’ opponent because he is a “family man.” He also said that his “wife is a woman” and promised to “look for the dirt” on Clemons.
Matthews noted Clemons as being a police officer before going on to talk about his “sexual preferences.”
“They do all that in the bedroom…unless you got a record as a police officer of fraternizing with other men while on the job,” Matthews said.
Victory Fund asserted in a statement, “There have been no such accusations against Clemons and Matthews makes no attempt to clarify or provide evidence for his claim. He says simply, ‘We’ll save all that for a later date.'”
Mayor Annise Parker, President & CEO of LGBTQ Victory Fund, said, “Thaddeus Matthews’s bigoted attack on Davin is both cringe-worthy and insidious – an unsubtle and failed attempt at doublespeak that insults the intelligence of his listeners and the people of Memphis. But the most repulsive moment in his diatribe is when he attacks Davin – a police officer who risks his life for his community – with a vague and false accusation for which he offers zero evidence. He is attempting to exploit the tired and homophobic stereotype of gay men as sexual predators, but we have learned these attacks are increasingly rejected by voters in Tennessee and across the country. Matthews is a charlatan going after ratings through provocation. It will not stop this historic LGBTQ candidate who spends his days going door to door to speak with voters about how to uplift and unite Memphis, not divide.”