In addition to being a homophobic jerk Phoenix City Councilman Michael Nowakowski also seems to want to use the government to shove his Catholic religion down the throats of the rest of us.
Phoenix Councilman Nowakowski – hypocrite or faithful? Richard Ruelas, The Republic | azcentral.com 5:48 p.m. MST March 11, 2016 Michael Nowakowski is a Phoenix City Council member representing a district with a significant lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender population. He also is a lifelong Catholic, a former employee of the diocese, who meets monthly with Christian ministers at City Hall. Nowakowski has given different messages to these groups, creating political turmoil for the representative of Phoenix's District 7. LGBT-rights activists view his videotaped remarks to preachers, in which he rebukes advances in LGBT rights, as calculated political hypocrisy. But some preachers said they understand Nowakowski needing to separate his religious beliefs from his role as a public servant. Is this hypocrisy? The video in question shows Nowakowski in a meeting with ministers saying, "I never thought I would see the day that men and men would be married. Or where people were allowed to go into the same bathroom as my daughter. This world is changing, and it’s time for us to take the leadership and change it back to the way it should be.” The pastors who were in the room when Nowakowski made his remarks said they understood that was where his heart lies. "He gave his opinion as a Catholic believer," said Jose Gonzalez, who leads Arizona Christian Link, a group of Latino pastors. "He never attacked anybody. He never criticized anybody." Gonzalez was among a group of Latino evangelical pastors who held a news conference in support of Nowakowski on Thursday. It was hours before Nowakowski would give his own news conference, where the councilman apologized for his remarks and said he wanted to take them back. He described himself as being swept up in the emotions of speaking to a roomful of pastors. The meeting with the pastors on the video came days before a contentious vote at a City Council meeting to replace the traditional invocation with a moment of silence. The Satanic Temple in Tucson asked to give the invocation and city staff scheduled them, finding no policy nor provision to deny their request. The only constitutionally acceptable option to do that, according to the city attorney, would be to end the prayer altogether. 'I believe the devil is attacking City Hall' In the video, Nowakowski asked the pastors to join him in praying that enough votes could be had to keep the opening invocation. He described the vote on prayer as part of a larger struggle against Satan. "I believe the devil is attacking City Hall because five years ago, the pastors have come to City Hall to take it over for God," Nowakowski said to the pastors. The monthly meeting of pastors started around 2010. Pastors said it occurred at their request. The state had passed the SB 1070 immigration bill and there were concerns about immigration sweeps performed by the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office. The pastors wanted a monthly forum to bring concerns of their congregants, most of whom are immigrants, to Nowakowski. They also wanted to pray for the city. One of the participants in the Feb. 1 meeting made a video recording as Nowakowski spoke to the ministers. The 4-minute video was posted on a pastor's Facebook page that same day. There it would live in relative obscurity until a city activist found it and posted a version on YouTube. Nowakowski said, in the video of the February meeting, that the devil wanted to stop the gatherings. "The devil wants to stop this," he said, "and we're not going to let that happen." Before Nowakowski made his remarks about same-sex marriage and people allowed to use the bathroom that reflects their gender identity, he spoke of his internal struggle. "It's hard to be a man of Christ and be an elected official at the same time," he said. Nowakowski had made public statements and taken at least one vote in support of gay rights. He rode in a Cadillac convertible in the 2012 Phoenix Pride parade, and has said he plans to be in the next parade April 3. After same-sex marriage was legalized in Arizona, he released a statement saying that there was no reason not to celebrate people's individual choices about love. Understanding an elected official's situation Gonzalez, the Arizona Christian Link leader, said that Nowakowski can still support the LGBT community as an elected official, but as a believer, he has the right to express his opinion. "There is a difference between accepting and approving," Gonzalez said at the news conference. Leaders in the gay community, in their own Thursday news conference, said they felt that Nowakowski's previous support was calculated to gain votes in the community. They view him as currying favor, but not expressing his true beliefs. Hours later, pastors gathered in the lobby of City Hall to show support for Nowakowski. They spoke individually, but gave a common message: Nowakowski had never expressed hate toward anybody. He was a man of peace who wanted to serve all people. But the pastors seemed unaware of Nowakowski's support for gay rights. During interviews with a half-dozen pastors after the news conference ended, none said they had known of Nowakowski being in the Pride parade, or expressing support for same-sex marriage. Gonzalez adamantly denied that Nowakowski had been in the Pride parade, even after being shown a photo of Nowakowski riding in the back of the Cadillac convertible in the 2012 parade. "I didn't see it," he said. "I didn't read it." But when pastors talked about the issue, with a reporter and among each other, they found justification for Nowakowski's actions. Antonio Velasquez, who is with Ama Justicia, a pastoral organization that aims to work with governments, said he understood why Nowakowski would take part in the Pride parade. "He is doing the work the city is calling him to do," he said in Spanish. " He's doing the will of the people who elected him." He said Nowakowski has that same mentality when he meets with the pastors each month. "He's telling the gay community, 'I'm here with you,' " he said. "He's telling us pastors, 'I'm here with you. You elected me. I'm your voice.' " Similarly, Gonzalez, speaking after the news conference, said he understood why Nowakowski would have supportive words about the same-sex ruling. "He is joyful any part of his district got a victory," he said. "When there is a victory, you rejoice with them." 'He is not clear about his principles' But, Nowakowski's actions didn't sit well with everybody. Richard Cepada, pastor at Iglesia Casa de Reino in Mesa, was in the room when Nowakowski spoke. It was his first time at the meeting of pastors and also his first time meeting Nowakowski. But, he said, it struck him that Nowakowski talked from the heart and, though Catholic, spoke the language of the evangelical community. “He thinks like I do. He believes like I do,” Cepada said. He said he understands that message needs to be altered for a wider audience. “For the public, outside of the circle, outside from a table filled with pastors," Cepada said. "He’s thinking about how you talk to the general public.” Cepada said he also tempers his speech. He speaks differently at his church than to the general public, but said he always sticks to his beliefs. Cepeda also had not known about Nowakowski's support for gay rights. Told about it during an interview with The Republic Thursday, Cepeda said he thought Nowakowski abandoned his beliefs. He went too far, Cepeda said, by appearing in the gay pride parade or saying the legalization of same-sex marriage should be celebrated. He should have expressed his beliefs more firmly while in the public square. “He is not clear about his principles,” Cepada said of Nowakowski. Cepada said the Bible does not speak kindly about people with two messages. “El hombre de doble ánimo es inconstante en todos sus caminos,” he said quoting James 1:8 in Spanish. In English, in the New King James version of the Bible, the verse reads, “He is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.” Cepada said he would not be attending another meeting with Nowakowski. “For me, that shows he is faulty in his integrity,” Cepada said. “It’s against what we were praying for.” |