By signing this petition, we are calling on Minersville Borough Mayor Joseph Post to issue a written apology to the public for turning this year’s Minersville Memorial Day Service into a political forum to express his views about same-sex marriage.

On Memorial Day, a holiday that is meant to honor our brave men and women that sacrificed their lives for freedom, Mayor Post decided to offer his opinion on the recent gay marriage ruling. On May 20, 2014, the Honorable Judge John E. Jones III, a native of Pottsville, declared that Pennsylvania’s same-sex marriage ban was unconstitutional by claiming, “…all couples deserve equal dignity in the realm of civil marriage.”

At the Memorial Day service, Mayor Post stated that he believed the ruling was wrong, essentially stating that marriage is only between one man and one woman. Mayor Post further mentioned a recent Pottsville Republican newspaper article pointing out that there was already a same-sex divorce, as though evidence that same-sex marriage is fundamentally flawed. Mayor Post made these remarks in front of dozens of citizens, high school students, and veterans, who attended the service to simply pay their respects to our fallen heroes.

Therefore, by signing this petition, we as a community are informing Mayor Post that his comments were not only insensitive, but extremely inappropriate for a service of this kind. Mayor Post does indeed have the right to express his opinion, but to do so at a Memorial Day service was disrespectful and offensive. It should also be noted that many gay service members have died in uniform serving their country. We ask that Mayor Post publicly apologize in writing for his great lapse of judgment.