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Candidate Scott Orsini Statement Regarding Past Twitter Insensitivities

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Saint Petersburg, Florida – Upon entering the race for the City of St Petersburg District 1 council seat, I have had the humbling opportunity to review my past social media activities. In the course of reviewing the past 10 years of my digital life—approximately 29,000 tweets, retweets, and replies to tweets—I found that in an effort to be humorous I tweeted a small number of tweets to and about women and the LGTBQ community that are crass, insensitive, and immature. One particular tweet in 2013 mentions the LGTBQ community in an unflattering light that I know to be insensitive and immature. These are two constituencies that I have fought hard for in my professional career and have a magnitude of respect for.

I sincerely apologize.

Though my tweets were insensitive: they did not bully; they did not incite violence; and they did not discriminate. They were childish tweets that were made in an attempt to be clever or humorous. They were not. This is a humiliating and humbling experience and one that I will not repeat.

My tweets used insensitive language, is sexually explicit in nature, is generally immature, and does not represent who I am. There is no excuse for this behavior. Despite my embarrassment, I thank 2013 Scott Orsini for not only reminding me that Twitter should not be a venue for sophomoric humor, but instead a platform for exchanging democratic ideas and a marketplace of change.

I have elected to use my past tweets as an opportunity to make myself and St Pete’s digital community a better, safer place through my position as District 1’s next city councilperson. I remain committed to our city’s moves toward sustainability, increases in affordable housing opportunities, and providing policies that promote small business success.

Next week, I will announce two community events that will address cyberbullying and insensitive online communications. Going forward, I will volunteer time to discuss cyberbullying and online insensitivity at schools and in the workforce. I hope that my experience is a lesson for the next generation to understand how powerful of a tool social media can truly be.

Together, we can make St Pete’s online discourse more respectful to all.

For more information on specifics of my upcoming community events, visit: http://www.votescottorsini.com

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