Rep. Andy Ogles made a social media post Tuesday saying “homosexuality has no place in America,” and then deleted it after drawing criticism from at least one fellow House Republican.
The tweet from Ogles (R-Tenn.) wished his followers “Happy Nuclear Family Month” in an apparent reference to Pride Month, which began Monday.
Rep. Mile Lawler (R-N.Y.) condemned the message as “absolutely idiotic” in a social media post.
“Homosexuality exists. In America,” Lawler wrote on X. “In fact Andy, you have family, friends, neighbors, colleagues and constituents who are gay and lesbian. It doesn’t make them less than or somehow unworthy of being an American.”
Ogles said in a statement later Tuesday that the original post was written by a member of his communications staff and he only learned about it after the fact when he started getting calls about it.
“The post was stupid, hurtful and a complete distraction from my America First focus,” he said. “The employee has been reprimanded.”
House leadership did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Pride Month commemorates the 1969 Stonewall Uprising in New York, which served as a major catalyst for LGBTQ+ rights.
Ogles has been called out for his social media posts in the past. Earlier this year, he faced backlash for posting that “Muslims don’t belong in America.” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries at the time called the Tennessee Republican a “malignant clown and pathological liar who has fabricated his whole life story.”