A Miami-Dade government employee wrote a slur-laden tirade against transgender people
An employee of the Miami-Dade Board of County Commissioners wrote an opinion piece in a local newsletter this month where he went on a tirade against transgender individuals, using derogatory phrases like “tranny tyranny” and “homosexual pedophile in a dress.”
John Labriola, who has worked for the media division at the Board of County Commissioners since 2006, wrote the slur-laden article for a section called “UNcensored” in the March 2021 edition of “Sophie’s Voice,” a newsletter with conservative-leaning content published by Sophie’s Publishing House Inc. The company owns an independent bookstore at Miami International Mall called Sophie’s Corner.
In the column, Labriola argues against the “Equality Act,” a bill passed by the U.S. House of Representatives on Feb. 25 that would amend civil rights laws to include protections from discrimination for LGBTQ individuals, specifically related to sexual orientation and gender identity. The bill would also expand the definition of public spaces where individuals would be entitled to protections, including retail stores and others.
“The bill is another full employment act for greedy, God-hating, ACLU-type lawyers who will use the law to harass Christian bakers and other honest hardworking small business owners who resist surrendering their consciences to the new ‘tranny tyranny,’ ” wrote Labriola, who makes about $70,000 a year, according to county records.
“It’s going to be a choice of either baking that sodomy cake and hiring the scary-looking, child-molesting tranny with a beard or being drowned in legal bills and driven out of business. Local governments also will be forced to submit or die,” he continued.
Labriola, whose job description includes handling records requests from members of the media for county commissioners, did not return a request for comment on his article.
Olga Vega, director of communications for County Commission Chairman Jose “Pepe” Diaz, said Diaz “recently became aware of the article and is looking into the matter.” Vega did not provide any further statements from Diaz on whether he agreed with the contents of the article.
Sophie’s Publishing House Inc. did not respond to a request for comment.
In the article, Labriola compares the “Democrat Party’s radical feminist socialist program for America” to Aristophanes’ classic Greek satire “Assemblywomen,” a play where women dressed up as men in Athens take over the government and institute drastic social reforms that control the possession of private property and sexual liberties.
He included false statements about individuals who identify as transgender that are often used by people opposed to LGBTQ protections, like saying the bill would “require crossdressing men to be allowed to use women’s restrooms,” and “forcing transgender indoctrination on school children.”
“Come to think of it, Aristophanes’ nightmarish vision seems a bit less dysfunctional than what the Democrat Congress is proposing,” he says at the end of the column. “Anyone for secession?”
