Janice Daniels, the newly installed
mayor of Troy, Michigan, is facing calls to resign after criticizing
New York's decision to legalize gay marriage, Mlive.com
reported.
Daniels, a Tea Party favorite, wrote in
a June 25 Facebook status update: “I think I am going to throw away
my I Love New York carrying bag now that queers can get married
there.”
After defending her right to speak out
on the issue, Daniels quietly deleted the status.
“I firmly support marriage as being
defined as between one man and one woman and I am not going to change
my position,” she said in a statement. “The groups that despise
me are digging deep to try to find something to worry about. They
probably should start worrying about how they can best work with a
new mayor who believes that we live in a free country and we all have
first amendment rights to speak our minds on any and all issues that
are before us.”
A planned Monday protest at Troy City
Hall against Daniels is being organized by a group of Troy High
School students on Facebook.
Demonstrators are expected to rally from 3PM to 11:30PM. The Troy
City Council is scheduled to meet at 7:30PM.