A California city councilwoman is under fire after comments she made to a high school conservative club were shared online, angering LGBTQ advocates, students, and families. Lincoln City Councilwoman Holly Andreatta told students at Twelve Bridges High School’s new Club America that trauma in her daughter’s childhood led to her being gay.
Andreatta said, “My oldest daughter had a lot of trauma as a child…Something really terrible happened to her when she was young… And as a result of it, she’s a lesbian. She’s gay. She’s married to a woman.” Andreatta also said she believes marriage is only between a man and a woman and agrees with the Bible’s condemnation of homosexuality, while describing internal conflict because she loves her daughter.
In the same talk, she called Martin Luther King Jr. a Marxist and said his civil rights work was not really helpful. After the video spread, Andreatta first claimed it had been altered by artificial intelligence, writing, “I am the same person I have always been, kind, principled, inclusive and committed to respectful dialogue.”
She later apologized, saying, “I want to publicly apologize to my daughter… To be absolutely clear: I did not say that trauma causes homosexuality.” Students and families have since called for the club’s disbandment and for Andreatta to be censured, while school officials say the club cannot be banned.
