I’ve stayed silent on him, but I will no longer.

. @AndyKingNYC & his wife openly spread false rumors about me as a result my sexual orientation & consistently falsified data about the apt buildings they / their teams were supposedly canvassing in the 2013 mayoral race. https://twitter.com/gaycitynews/status/1313291347663695873

They claimed on multiple occasions that directions they’d received or plans to which they’d agreed never existed, and multiple sources reported to me that they often referred to me as “that fag.”

They also complained loudly that I wasn’t “one of them,” despite me and my family having had roots in The Bronx for 40+ years at that point, despite and my own mother serving as a mental health prof in a state-run public institution in the borough for 44 years.

While I have no insight or direct information into his dealings with his staff or the reported corruption, my own experience made it plainly obvious to me that he and his wife’s approach to those different from them was itself racist, homophobic, and has no place in our city.

I have nothing but sympathy for the vagaries & challenges of public life — and there is nobody w/o fault.

That said, it is not unreasonable for NYers to expect high degrees of professional integrity & basic respect from our officials — and in the Kings none of this was found.

And as I am very proud to be an unabashed Queen from Queens now, I will always believe that all Boys (& people of all genders) from The Bronx (like me) deserve principled, committed, honest leadership — and that we did not have in Mr. & Mrs. King.

Thank you, @NYCCouncil and @NYCSpeakerCoJo, for taking the right steps and helping Andy King find another path in life — we all deserve better.

TYVM to all those that have reached out, both publicly & privately.

My thoughts are more with those who had to suffer through the Kings as staff, subordinates, or long-term partners, for it is they who are carrying, and will, I would imagine, continue to carry, a heavier burden.