{"id":21560,"date":"2024-04-03T10:40:43","date_gmt":"2024-04-03T14:40:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/?p=21560"},"modified":"2024-04-03T10:40:43","modified_gmt":"2024-04-03T14:40:43","slug":"public-calls-for-resignation-of-councilwoman-who-shared-meme-mocking-easter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/2024\/04\/public-calls-for-resignation-of-councilwoman-who-shared-meme-mocking-easter","title":{"rendered":"Public Calls for Resignation of Councilwoman Who Shared Meme Mocking Easter"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Constituents of a New Jersey Democrat are calling for her resignation after sharing a meme mocking Easter to social media. Councilwoman Paula Gilligan of Glen Rock Borough shared a meme to Instagram that said<\/a>, \u201cEaster eggs are aborted chicken babies that are painted in drag for small children to worship. Happy Easter!\u201d The post received backlash from a number of area residents, with one person posting on Instagram, \u201cThis is the \u2018Happy Easter\u2019 message we get from Paula Gilligan. She represents a town filled with families from all religious backgrounds. Will she post any other messages disrespecting other faiths, or is her hate only towards Catholics?\u201d There were calls for her resignation from the council, which is all-female and Democrat.<\/p>\n

Gilligan released a statement to the municipal website<\/a>, clarifying that the post was meant to be a jab at \u201cpersonhood laws\u201d and not Easter. \u201cCurrently 40 bills with personhood language have been proposed in 16 states. Personhood language refers to legal language that would codify the dangerous notion that from the moment of fertilization, an egg should be legally recognized as a person with full constitutional rights. This legislation supports an extremist political position that I disagree with. It is my personal opinion that people have the right to control their bodies and their lives,\u201d she wrote. She also reiterated that the post was on her personal page and not meant to be a representation of the views of the mayor or other council members. \u201cTo those who feel it mocks your holiday traditions, that was not my intention.\u00a0 Wishing all who celebrate a peaceful, joyous holiday,\u201d she concluded. The council and the town\u2019s mayor, Kristine Morieko, released a statement<\/a> apologizing for the post. \u201cWe have been made aware of a post that appeared on one of our Council Member\u2019s personal Instagram stories. This post invoked Easter, the holiest day of the year in the Christian calendar, in a point about two issues that have nothing to do with Easter.\u00a0 As Mayor and members of the Borough Council, we want to apologize to everyone who was offended by this post,\u201d the statement began. The council stated that \u201ceveryone\u2019s religious beliefs and traditions must be treated with respect\u201d and \u201cshould not be the subject of jokes.\u201d The statement ended with a call to \u201csupport and respect each other.\u201d The statement originally did not include Gilligan\u2019s signature, but it was later added.<\/p>\n

Despite the statement, a number of people attended the following council meeting on Wednesday to protest Gilligan and call for her resignation. The meeting was opened by Gilligan, who apologized for the post. \u201cI apologize. It was never ever my intention to offend anyone,\u201d she said, being met with scoffing by the audience. Melissa Heuss called the post \u201cwildly offensive,\u201d and questioned Gilligan\u2019s sincerity. Maria Dolan said the meme was \u201creligious intolerance on display.\u201d \u201cYou created this, Ms. Gilligan,\u201d she said. The Republican council of the nearby town of Fair Lawn also had members in attendance, with chairman Joe Nasso calling it \u201chorrible.\u201d Others defended the councilwoman, with some calling the response to her post \u201chateful.\u201d To date, Gilligan has not resigned her position.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

  Constituents of a New Jersey Democrat are calling for her resignation after sharing a meme mocking Easter to social media. Councilwoman Paula Gilligan of Glen Rock Borough shared a meme to Instagram that said, \u201cEaster eggs are aborted chicken babies that are painted in drag for small children to worship. Happy Easter!\u201d The post…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":664,"featured_media":21563,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fbia_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-21560","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nPublic Calls for Resignation of Councilwoman Who Shared Meme Mocking Easter<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Constituents of a New Jersey Democrat are calling for her resignation after sharing a meme mocking Easter to social media.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/2024\/04\/public-calls-for-resignation-of-councilwoman-who-shared-meme-mocking-easter\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" 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