Florida candidate says opponent wants to turn city “gay”
Bernard Wright attacks City Commissioner Ty Penserga's sexual orientation and race ad part of a long, rambling Facebook Live rant.
A Florida mayoral candidate, who describes himself as a “real man,” has lashed out at one of his three opponents, claiming that he is going to turn the municipality into a “gay city.”
Bernard Wright, a 69-year-old minister seeking to become the next mayor of Boynton Beach, Florida, made the claim in a nearly 40-minute-long Facebook Live video in which Wright went on a stream-of-consciousness rant about his campaign signs being stolen, claimed that city officials had “blood on their hands” for their response to an officer-involved dirt bike crash that killed a 13-year-old, the lack of economic opportunity, political corruption, and his hatred of political correctness.
As part of the broadcast, Wright expressed horror at opponent Ty Penserga’s “big purple, pink signs,” adding: “He’s gay. He wants to make this a gay city. That’s not Boynton culture.
“I’ll call him what I will, and I tell his gay butt this, if you’re gay, you’re gay. I’m a real man. I’m a real man,” he continued. “I’m telling you his gay butt better sit down because we are not going to let him make this city gay.”
Wright alleged that Penserga, an openly gay city commissioner, was somehow behind plans to turn the city into a gay mecca by offering expensive studio lofts exclusively to “homosexuals,” with a gay dance club on the top floor and a massage parlor on the ground floor of a recently build apartment complex. Wright may be referring to a multi-million-dollar mixed-use apartment complex, complete with commercial space, pools, a clubhouse, gym, and parking structures, that was approved for construction by city commissioners in 2020, but it is unclear.
In the video, Wright rambles on about various issues before settling back on Penserga’s sexual orientation after ranting about the legalization of same-sex marriage, which he also referred to at one point as “illegal marriage.”
“That is so far away from the Scriptures, it is a shame. Do what you want to do, I don’t care who you go to bed with, who you walking [and holding] hands with, who you ride with, I don’t care who you kiss,” Wright said.
“What I’m saying is, don’t make this like this is of God, and is a right of naturality to the point that, ‘Hey man, you can what you’re doing and how you’re doing it,’ but my child can just open up a book and decide whether they want to be a boy or a girl? That is not it, we will not let you overtake the art of God. He created man! And I’m a man,” he continued. “And I’m gonna talk like a man. I’m gonna walk like a man. I’m gonna spit like a man. I’m gonna pee like a man… and I’ll put these fists up like a man. Pull my trigger like man, and I’m gonna be a man and do my time like a man… I’m gonna be your mayor like a man.”
He also refers to Penserga’s race, calling the 33-year-old commissioner “just an Asian student” and a “migrant” who is living with his mother and “has no life experiences at all.” Penserga was born in the Philippines but raised in Palm Beach County.
Penserga, who holds a bachelor’s degree in chemistry and biology and a master’s in integrative biology and neuroscience, has worked as a high school teacher, published his first research paper at age 17, and currently conducts research related to Alzheimer’s disease. While in college, he received awards for leadership, community service, and creating a mentoring pipeline to help underprivileged teens. He has since been elected commissioner, where he had focused on issues related to public safety, affordable housing, and economic development.
In response to Wright’s comments, Penserga called them “bigoted, ignorant and disgusting,” telling the Palm Beach Post: “They reflect someone who is not only unfit for service but is unqualified for city leadership. Our residents deserve a leader that will lift our communities up, not someone who constantly seeks to divide us.”
The general election for Boynton Beach mayor is on March 8.
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