The Committee to Save Matt Ricchiazzi

Matt Ricchiazzi. Will he ever learn that the path to electoral success and/or a hack job is paved with hard work, loyalty, and not behaving like a lunatic

He started out so promising – fresh face, self-identified bisexual Republican running for Mayor, offering up big ideas. Then he aligned himself with tea party people like conspiratorial truther Allen Coniglio. He alternately endorsed, then didn’t endorse, then endorsed again, Carl Paladino. He ran his sister for city council. He ran for school board but didn’t make the ballot. He ran for state senate, but was ineligible

I obtained a series of emails he sent in 2010, where he lectured western New York’s gay activists about what they were doing wrong, with little positive feedback. For example: 

On a serious note, as long as the gay community is bound to the hip of the Democrat Party WE WILL NEVER, EVER ACHIEVE MARRIAGE EQUALITY. Never. If you think any different, then you’re delusional and stupid. We have ABSOLUTELY NO POLITICAL LEVERAGE AS LONG AS DEMOCRATS THINK THAT GAYS DON’T VOTE REPUBLICAN. They have nothing to fear if they offend, betray, or insult us.

Further, the Democrats are making too much money off of the gay marriage issue, and they have no monetary interest in giving that up. They recieve donations, volunteers, etc because of this ban, and if we had marriage equality there would be no carrot left to keep the gay community on the Democrat band wagon.

As long as gays demonize ALL REPUBLICANS as being homophobic and racist, why are they going to go out of their way to be nice to people that propagate hate against them, because that’s what you’re doing. Especially considering that those pro-gay Republicans would incur political vulnerabilities within that their party that the other half of the Democrat Party is sure to exploit, it would make no sense for them to do that.

That must be why he’s developing and distributing homophobic political lit. 

Date: Sunday, August 29, 2010, 1:22 PM

Camile,

I’m hardly self-loathing. What do I care if I can’t get married to my partner, if he has to move out of state to find work?

I’m voting for Carl because he’s an awesome guy and he understands how the real economy works. Now, I realize that many of you work for the government or off of government contracts, so you’re not concerned with the real (private sector) economy. But for those of us who don’t want to content ourselves sucking on the government tit, we can’t afford to care about frivolous BS, like the word “marriage.”

Now, if you want to get all hysterical about nothing more than a word, then feel free to go waste all your time and energy being hysterical. But I’m far more worried about the economy and my generation’s economic opportunity and the debt burden with which the current generation of leadership is crushing us, than I am with semantics.

For that reason, Carl is far more in touch with the issues and needs that concern my generation

And, Carl has already said that he would not veto a marriage bill that passes the State Legislature. He would sign it into law, even though he personally does not support it, because that’s how he feels a democracy should work.

Paladino for the people!

-Matt

Over the last week or so, he has invented out of whole cloth a non-existent Republican “committee” (consisting of one member), which was ostensibly holding a lit design contest. Five pieces of fake lit were sent out to an undisclosed roster of politicos and press, all of which viciously attacked either Mark Grisanti or members of his staff.  It culminated on September 10th with this: 

It’s not persuasive, it’s not pithy, it’s not funny, it’s not anything except an opportunity for Ricchiazzi to inflame homophobia.  Now recall that all of this stems from the Grisanti camp’s refusal to give Ricchiazzi a job. 

Think about how pathetic this is: a kid who’s gay or bisexual is so  upset over not getting a job that he’s spent the better part of the last year spreading lies about Grisanti’s behavior during that bar fight in the Falls, he’s developing idiotic political literature attacking Grisanti and his aides, and he develops the homoerotic piece of literature shown above for the sole purpose of getting conservative-minded opponents of same-sex marriage angry. He is so self-loathing, so opportunistic that he chooses to inflame anti-homosexual passions. 

The guy Ricchiazzi is supposedly trying to help – Kevin Stocker – told Channel 4 that he finds the ad offensive. Ricchiazzi emailed Channel 4’s Lou Raguse to say that he “saw” the lit and that his “committee” thought it was brilliant. 

And that’s not all. Ricchiazzi’s efforts in this instance are so clumsy that it’s gotten tons of attention as the “most anti-gay” piece of literature never sent. HuffPo, BuzzFeed, Politico have all covered this piece of lit. But the best information comes from BuzzFeed’s Chris Geidner, via Twitter: 

The pornographers who produced the images from which Ricchiazzi obtained the images for the mailer shown above posted this: 

While everyone at CorbinFisher is flattered the self-described “Committee to Save the Erie County Republican Party” would select two of our company’s images to represent all-things-gay, the persons/person considering the unauthorized use of our images, in violation of registered copyrights, should be aware we take the protection of our intellectual property seriously.

Whichever group or individual took a break from furiously manipulating themselves to the collection of CorbinFisher gay erotic images they apparently maintain on their computer should be aware use of the images without our prior written consent is a violation of our copyrights.

Certainly, having all heard of occasions in which self-professed family values advocates have vehemently opposed same-sex marriage rights while at the same time adopting “wide stances” in airport restrooms, employing male prostitutes as European vacation luggage carriers or mile-high methamphetamine-smoking partners, and shamelessly pursuing sexual favors from pages in the halls of Congress, it doesn’t quite surprise us those behind the “Committee to Save the Erie County Republican Party” would readily have access to a number of our sexually explicit, gay-oriented images.  Nonetheless, we’d politely ask they discontinue attempts to insert our copyrighted images in to their distributed political material, and instead stick to secretly pleasuring themselves and battling their internal struggles with guilt and shame over the sexual orientation they are unable to come to terms with, like so many other outspoken opponents of gay rights are so good at doing.

So, Ricchiazzi can’t get hired, he can’t properly get a YouTube hit piece up, he can’t get traction for his fairy tales about the Falls bar fight, the Senecas want nothing to do with him, Stocker has disavowed any involvement with him, he’s alienated and angered the gay community, and he’s burned just about every bridge he’s ever tenuously built. What a waste. 

 

10 comments

  • I am going to blame his “escape goat” again.

  • Ricchiazzi should be used as an example in PolySci classes about how not to conduct yourself. 

  • I think the first mistake was humoring him when he ran for mayor so young. 

    •  I agree…in a way. I pushed Marc to interview him because I thought we needed to support emerging young political voices. He had ideas, was fresh out of college and seemed like the kind of guy we should embrace and nurture as a candidate. His background checked out, he was well-educated, had good references, and seemed like he had it together. Unfortunately, he self-immolated over the next several months and years. It is a waste.

  • As one of the recipients of his literature and having known him for three years watching Ricchiazzi in action has all the fascination of a train wreck.  I suppose only mental health professionals are in the bestposition to explain him.  I’ll let you folks in on a little secret, I helped kill his mayoral run before the Board of Elections would have.I saw one of his flyers for the mayoral run over on Allen Street and made it my business to look him up.  I
    thought Byron Brown ought to face a general election and the thought of a gay kid running against him was intriguing.  But when I had friends at the Board of Elections look him up I was informed that heregistered too late in the GOP, he was something else and wouldn’t be a Republican until the followingyear.
    Can you imagine the surprise on Matthew’s face when I informed him he’d need a Wilson-Pakula to runfrom the Erie County Republican Committee?   He killed his petitions and never filed.   That should havebeen a warning as to what would follow in the next several years.

    It’s all sad, he’s bright, but completely unstable.  

  • there are a number of lessons here, but only ONE vitally important to the LGBT community ~ and that is the pernicious effects of internalized self loathing that continues to threaten us from among our gay community!  

    this “most anti-gay” piece of literature never sent was created by a self proclaimed “bi-sexual”. 
    (savor that.  let it sink in.  explore the myriad and sordid ramifications of such an act, buy such disturbed psyche, and it’s effect on an entire community of individuals.)
     
    in the same race, the candidate funded by N.O.M. (National Organization for Marriage), the most committed attacker of LGBT American’s civil rights in our country today, is Chuck Swanick. 
    openly gay, omnipresent political hack, and patronage crony David Granville CARRIED AND WITNESSED SWANICK’S BALLOT PETITIONS ~ in effect lobbying for the reversal, and denial of his own civil marriage equality rights!

    until we collectively identify, and publicly shun the “Roy Cohns”  and “Mary” Hoovers among us, the threat posed by our enemies pales in comparison to the cancerous debilitation to our rights and dignity that we suffer from our own brethren.  it’s time to stand as ONE community, and say ~ enough is enough.  we turn our backs on you, your reprehensible acts, and your unfathomable deeds of self serving collaboration with our enemies.

  • HAHAHAHAHA. Oh, this is rich. Great story, Alan. 

  • I’m no expert, but it would appear to me that there are some mental health issues at play. I kind of just feel bad for the kid.

  •  Try to get more advice or tips on http://www.MeetBi.com. It’s a good bisexual dating website

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