Queer Publication Blasts Democratic Candidate for Anti-Trans Tweets
advocate.comAn LGBTQ+ media outlet in Pennsylvania called out a candidate for elected office for past “anti-trans, anti-LGBTQ, and racist” tweets.The outlet QBurgh, which covers the Pittsburgh area, reported on a string of objectionable posts made by Joanna Doven shortly after she announced that she would seek an at-large seat on the Allegheny County Council, challenging Democrat Bethany Hallam who currently holds that seat.The tweets from 2015 surrounded the discovery that Rachel Dolezal, a white woman, had publicly pretended to be and described herself as Black.In discussing the incident, Doven made a transphobic and racist remark, trying to draw a false comparison. “So if a man can feel like he’s a woman and vice versa – why can’t a white person feel like they are black?” Doven tweeted in June 2015.QBurgh reports that in addition to bigoted language, Doven’s social media from recent years included support for Republican candidates and GOP talking points.
This is even with her saying that she wanted to secure Pittsburgh as solidly blue in her campaign announcement. The outlet notes that she even referred to hearing a Donald Trump interview "refreshing."The tweets, the outlet writes, were made after she had served as press secretary for Pittsburgh’s mayor, Luke Ravenstahl, a Democrat, and after launching her own business, a P.R.
and marketing agency called Premo Consultants.After the tweets came to light, Doven responded on Twitter with a long thread in which she accused the publication of participating in a “coordinated” attack.The thread includes more than 20 tweets comprising several attacks against Hallam, including one surrounding her struggles with drug addiction.
