The electronic resignation was authenticated by way of e-mail exchange between Yasko and goodlight.net moderator Frank Fitzgerald.

In his resignation statement, Yasko played the "gay card", and claimed that the reason for his resignation was that he had been tormented since he was recently outed as a gay man.

His resignation has been called for by both gay and straight individuals within the free speech movement for his gross mismanagement and his relentless harrassment of Amy Goodman.

Yasko's statement follows:

http://disc.server.com/discussion.cgi?id=137196&article=56469

Stephen Yasko

None

Sat Sep 8 10:44:56 2001

Given the unrelenting, homophobic smear campaign that has taken place in this forum, I am announcing my resignation here so the news will spread fast and you all can go on to your next activity.

Effective September 15, 2001, I will no longer be the National Program Director of Pacifica. Before you all gloat too much, I did not make this choice because of your attacks on me. I made this decision because Pacifica cannot move forward until it is free from persecution. This persecution is executed by people who say they are champions of free speech and tolerance, but use the tactics of hate and bigotry to achieve their ends. I don’t know what drives you, but I choose not to be a part of it. Unfortunately, that choice means I must also not be part of an organization that has the potential to change the political discourse in this country.

I must say that while I did receive an e-mail the other day stating that there was some relationship between Yasko and cyber-porno/sexuality, when I went to the various cyber-links cited in the e-mail, I found no evidence that linked Yasko to any of the sites. I concluded that it was an empty smear campaign. So now, Yasko smears himself? Clearly, this is smoke screen and something else is going on here. What is it?

Julie, I really don't care whether Yasko is a pornographer or not. What I have against him is his campaign of harrassment and censorship against Amy Goodman and Democracy Now! But the sites are linked to Yasko through the links on his web page. Unless you're saying he has no responsibility for what he publishes.

He took all the sites down after Pacifica Campaign outed him. I'd been sitting on similar information for a year, but didn't have a reason to out Yasko. Other people did, apparently.

He can play the gay card, but nobody cares if he is gay. The card that gave him the losing hand was the butthead card.