Lawsuit Over Anti-Gay Slur Imperils Small Town Paper

The New York Times reports:

The county board meeting in Wausau, Wis., on Aug. 12, 2021, got contentious fast. Nobody disputes that. Acting on a tip from a reader, The Wausau Pilot & Review reported that during the meeting, the owner of a shredding and recycling company, Cory Tomczyk, called a 13-year-old boy a “fag.” Mr. Tomczyk, who is now a Republican state senator, denied using the slur and demanded a retraction. When The Pilot & Review stood by its article, Mr. Tomczyk sued.

Three additional people who attended the meeting later gave sworn statements that they had heard Mr. Tomczyk use the word. And during a deposition, he admitted having said it on other occasions. In late April 2023, a judge dismissed the lawsuit. But that was not the end of the matter for the small and financially pinched Pilot & Review, a nonprofit that has already racked up close to $150,000 in legal bills from the case. Mr. Tomczyk has filed an appeal.

Read the full article. Gift link.

As you’ve probably already guessed, the above-cited county meeting was about diversity and inclusion policies. Last month Tomczyk was also in the news for a proposed constitutional amendment that would ban the closure of churches should there be another pandemic. Tomczky has called for impeaching Gov. Tony Evers over such restrictions issued due to COVID.

Fascists can try to kill a paper by raiding it, as in Kansas, or by strangling it with nuisance lawsuits, as in this awful story from Wausau, Wisconsin. (CC ⁦@QuinceMountain⁩) https://t.co/p5dYVG9fQA

— Jeff Sharlet (jeffsharlet.bsky.social) (@JeffSharlet) August 16, 2023

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