The controversy revolving around an aide to Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop and his sister’s anti-LGBTQ+ campaign in Missouri ended late yesterday with Jonathan Gomez Noriega being fired after Valentina Gomez said a “huge lawsuit incoming.”
By John Heinis/Hudson County View
“Fulop is making him choose between his family, or his job. Steven, you should’ve chosen your words more carefully, because you don’t sound like a Democratic mayor, you sound like a dictator,” Valentina Gomez, one of eight Republican candidates running in the Missouri primary for Secretary of State today, said in a video posted on X Monday night.
“You cannot be governor, this is not the way to treat your employees, or any human being but I will let the people decide.”
The video then cut to a picture of Fulop, a Democratic candidate for governor, and about 15 seconds of audio that was seemingly part of a heated conversation with Gomez Noriega yesterday.
“Jon, if you think that is boldness, I am gonna’ fire you. I’m gonna look in five minutes, if not clear where you stand, then you’re not with me, you’re with her and you can’t work with me. Period, okay? Like, that’s it, end of story. Five minutes.”
Gomez Noriega resigned from the Jersey City LGBTQ+ Task Force yesterday after Hudson Pride Center Executive Director Liz Schedl and two of her colleagues left in response to him donating to his sister’s campaign, as HCV first reported.
Becoming an aide to Fulop in February 2022, according to his LinkedIn page, Gomez Noriega released a statement on X yesterday, but did not denounce his sister’s candidacy, which has gained national attention for using homophobic slurs like “f*****.”
Evidently, Fulop was not impressed, and in a reply to Gomez that has reached nearly three million accounts as of this writing, said that her brother’s tenure with the city is over.
“Valentina – first your brother WAS an ‘at-will’ employee for the city – as of tomorrow he no longer works there bc he doesn’t reflect the values of the city,” he began.
“Second, You can see how strongly I feel about the LGBTQ community and I’ll share the text messages we exchanged so ppl know ill fight for them when people are watching and the same when they can’t see what I’m doing.”
He also posted screenshots of a text conversation he was having with Gomez Noriega yesterday, where the mayor was obviously annoyed his proposed public apology did not go far enough.
“The only thing that matters was one sentence [:] ‘To be clear, I do not support my sister’s hateful speech or campaign. I love her as my sister but I don’t condone her actions that have become progressively more vile in the last few months. Anything else isn’t acceptable and doesn’t reflect the values of our office …”
Fulop declined to review the statement prior to publication, adding that “pictures or any evidence in campaigning will result in termination from the city entirely as those values have no place in JC.”
When city spokeswoman Kimberly Wallace-Scalcione was asked about the notion that political contributions are protected free speech, she said the Fulop administration does not stand for any sort of prejudice.
“The Fulop Administration has zero tolerance for bigotry and racism, and Mayor Fulop’s record speaks to that. There isn’t a mayor in New Jersey with a track record of supporting the LGBTQ+ community. The mayor showed yesterday that he defends the community with passion in public and private, and he is the same fierce defender when he doesn’t expect the public to see it,” she told HCV.
“With regard to Jonathan, the mayor has a longstanding personal relationship with Jonathan as a mentor for years. So, it saddens the mayor not only because he feels violated and betrayed by Jonathan’s decision to record and weaponize personal conversations but more that Jonathan was unable to see the impact of not calling out hate for what it is. Jonathan’s actions are inexcusable. Whether it’s campaigning for his sister, advising her hate-driven campaign, or supporting her financially, the fact is that Jonathan’s actions render his responsibilities working in City Hall on policies around diversity impossible to achieve.”
Gomez Noriega did not immediately return a direct message seeking comment.
