Female GOP reps debate Nipplegate: ‘It's about time someone called out the orange misogynist’
State Rep. Amanda Bouldin, the target of “crude” and “unapologetically misogynistic” harassment from GOP Reps. Josh Moore and Al Baldasaro over legislation that would criminalize female toplessness, is a Democrat – but one whose voting record is more closely aligned with House Republicans.
(Bouldin earned a 75% score from the conservative House Republican Alliance. The only other Democrat scoring higher than 50% is fellow Free Stater Elizabeth Edwards.)
When the “Nipplegate” controversy broke, several Republican women lawmakers came to Bouldin’s defense. One was Rep. Tammy Simmons (R-Manchester), who offered an unambiguous show of support on Facebook. “I am as GOP as it gets……I agree with Amanda,” she wrote.
Rep. Victoria Sullivan (R-Manchester) was a lone dissenter. “Seriously? Josh is now being threatened,” she wrote. “This was absolutely ridiculous and should not be perpetuated. Fight it out in committee and in the House.”
“People shouldn’t be threatening him….” Simmons replied, “that’s wrong…..but his comment was off as well….lessons learned…..”
“If lessons are learned it should not be perpetuated,” Sullivan repeated.
Bouldin then joined the conversation and addressed Sullivan’s criticism. “In public is the perfect place to have a discussion of public policy,” she wrote. “Is the ‘proper process’ that 1,000 bills are filed, and the GenCourt website gives less than 7 days notice of a hearing, and all the hearings are on weekdays during work hours, and the public affected by this legislation is unable to speak out?”
“A public discussion is what I intended by posting to my Facebook wall. I’m not the first human to see something, be mad about it, and share it to my Facebook. I never set anyone up to say stupid things on a public post. Should I censor myself in case _someone else_ says something that could ruin his career?” Bouldin asked.
Doris Hohensee, a former Republican candidate for the House and Senate and member of the Nashua Board of Education, joined in and criticized Moore. “Josh needs to apologize for his remarks. He removed his remarks after realizing that they were inappropriate but he failed to follow through with an apology, Victoria.”
The discussion ended with congratulations from former Rep. Kelleigh Murphy (R-Bedford). “Good for you,” Murphy told Bouldin. “It’s about time that someone called out the orange misogynist.”