Rockland removes LGBTQ activist from Human Rights honor, then reinstates him

Rockland County Human Rights Commissioner Spencer Chiimbwe and County Executive Ed Day reinstated an LGBTQ activist to the county's Civil and Human Rights Hall of Fame Monday after revoking the honor Friday and after a weekend filled with animosity about it.

Joseph Coe, LGBTQ activist and board member of Rockland Pride, received a letter from Chiimbwe on Feb. 16 telling him his induction to the Civil and Human Rights Hall of Fame was revoked following a ceremony on Feb. 12. The induction occurred at an event headlined by keynote speaker Martin Luther King III and featuring Rep. Mike Lawler (R-Pearl River).

Coe, who was the youngest and first openly gay man inducted to the Hall of Fame, was reprimanded by community members when he gave an acceptance speech which ran longer than the requested two minutes per nominee. Chiimbwe's letter cited Coe's behavior during and after the ceremony.

"Considering the high level of integrity and respect we believe our Hall of Fame inductees should embody, it has been determined that your actions fall short of these standards." the letter stated.

Rockland County Legislature Chair Jay Hood and County Executive Ed Day issued statements on Monday afternoon reinstating Coe, and expressing regret for how events played out.

Hood, who wrote a letter of recommendation for Coe's induction, said Chiimbwe both made the decision and sent the letter of removal without the knowledge of the county legislature or the Human Rights Commission.

Day and Coe both accused the other of poor behavior to one another after the event earlier Monday before Coe was reinstated. In a statement issued to lohud/The Journal News prior to Coe's reinstatement, Day criticized Coe taking to social media and rallying support and indicated he wanted Coe to reflect on his actions and apologize and he and Chiimbwe would reconsider.

Hood said Day agreed to reinstate Coe and said Day regrets the way the situation was handled with the legislature.

In his statement Monday, Day said, "While I stand by my authority to make these types of decisions, I also recognize the importance of my positive relationship with the chairman and legislature. Maintaining that relationship and its standing means keeping them apprised, as appropriate, of my actions in a more timely manner.”

In the letter of regret, Coe wrote, "I regret deeply how the event transpired. I was surprised to be given such a short time to speak and wasn't prepared to cut the remarks I labored over for a week. In retrospect, I could have found another way to make sure my story was told."

In his response, Hood thanked Day for taking accountability in his lack of communication with the legislature.

"I appreciate County Executive Ed Day's acknowledgment that the Legislature must be informed of significant decisions like one removing a Civil Rights Hall of Fame recipient," Hood said. "We have a good working relationship and I expect that to continue. My hope is in the future the Legislature will not just be told of the decisions in a timely manner but will have a seat at the table during important deliberations."

Coe said the reason he spoke longer than requested was because he had a speech prepared prior to the event and was not informed of the time restriction and felt it was "unfair" to not let the nominees accept their awards on stage.

"I'm upset because injustice was done not only to me but to my community," Coe said of the event. "This was an attack on all of us honorees. This was supposed to be a special day for us and it became apparent that it wasn't."

At the event, Coe said organizers told him that nominees would not be able to speak at all, since the event's time was limited so that guest of honor Martin Luther King III could be on time for another scheduled appearance that same day.

However, when he expressed his and his fellow nominees desire to speak, host of the event and local activist Virginia Norfleet said each nominee only had two minutes.

In a video posted to Coe's Facebook page, he is seen saying, "I'm going to take longer than two minutes, so please don't cut me off" before beginning his speech, which ran for just over 10 minutes.

At around the three-minute mark, Norfleet and Chiimbwe were seen coming up to Coe and asking him to stop speaking, but he continued, responding, "I'm not leaving until I'm done." He continued speaking until Norfleet came and took the microphone from the stand at the lectern he was speaking from.

Some members of the audience became visibly upset by the incident, some even walking out of the room during the speech.

After he was finished speaking, Norfleet publicly reprimanded Coe for going over time but he got up and addressed the crowd, saying his speech was the first time the word "gay" was mentioned during the event and called it "a sham" before he left the room.

Coe said the actions the county Human Rights Commissioner made towards him were "retraumatizing" for him and reminded him of the bullying he endured in school.

"I viewed this moment to really have closure in my life and closure of some of the work I've done," Coe said. "I've been on a healing journey physically and mentally and then they re-victimized me."

"Should I have stormed off and said this is a sham? I don't know," he said. "I was in a very high stress situation, I was recounting major traumas that happened to me and I was being shut down."

Hood said the Rockland County Legislature will host an additional ceremony for the honorees at the legislative chambers in the near future, where they will be permitted to speak as long as they wish for family and friends.

This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: Rockland LGBTQ activist human rights honor restored after removal