News
New Hampshire Legislator Apologizes for Anime Comment
posted on by Crystalyn Hodgkins
On March 24, the conservative Republican website Red Hampshire reported on a comment made by New Hampshire Democratic State Representative Nickolas Levasseur on his personal Facebook page regarding anime. According to Red Hampshire, the Facebook comment read: "anime is a prime example of why two nukes just wasn't enough....."
A local New Hampshire news station, WMUR-TV, ran a segment on March 25 and 26 regarding the controversy surrounding Levasseur's posting. In the segment, the reporter said that the New Hampshire Republican party called the remarks "hateful," and asked Democratic Governor John Lynch to request that "members of his party stop participating in such shameful behavior." In the news segment, the reporter also said that Levasseur apologized for the posting, saying it "has no place in private or public discourse."
ANN contacted Levasseur regarding his Facebook post, and his emailed response follows below:
I would like to deeply apologize for the insensitivity of this post. It was a poorly thought out comment, posted in jest, on my private Facebook page. This, of course, does not excuse the comment. This type of statement has no place in public or private discourse. It does not represent any true opinion, political or personal. My record in the New Hampshire House shows a commitment to equality and social justice. It is a record of which I am most proud. This comment is a disappointment not only to the people of New Hampshire, whom it has been my privilege to serve, but also to my own beliefs and moral code.
[Via AnimeVice, OtakuReview]
