Darien Man Denounces Watchdog Group's Story

DARIEN, IL – A Darien man on Thursday said a watchdog group's story alleging that he opposes the LGBT and African-American communities is false.

In late November, the Alabama-based Southern Poverty Law Center, which says its goal is to track hate movements, wrote a story about Darien resident Terry Newsome.

In June, Newsome was elected as a DuPage County Republican committeeman.

In an interview with Patch, Newsome said he is not homophobic. He said he is fine with LGBT Pride Month and opposes hate against the LGBT community.

Newsome said he has worked closely with Log Cabin Republicans, a group that says it advocates for equal rights for LGBT Americans.

He also said he is coordinating efforts with Gays Against Groomers. The group says its goal is to end the sexualization and indoctrination of children under the guise of supporting the LGBT community.

Newsome, who said he is a former Democrat, was vocal in his opposition to a since-canceled drag show for children at Downers Grove Public Library. He said he believes such an event would be inappropriate for children.

At the same time, he said he strongly opposed any threats that the library said it received as a result of the drag show controversy.

He also has expressed opposition to the decision by Downers Grove High School District 99 to have the book, "Gender Queer." He said it includes a sketch of oral sex between males that he said was wrong to make available to children.

But Newsome said he wasn't only concerned with same-sex pornographic images. He showed Patch his November 2021 email to Downers Grove South High School's principal.

"In preparation for next week's meeting, can you please identify any or all heterosexual books in D99 that show unacceptable pornographic images?" Newsome asked. "Some students stated that D99 has heterosexual pornographic books as well. If that's true, identify them for us. We expect them to be removed as well. Again, our concern is pornographic material of all kinds."

As further evidence, Newsome said his doctor is gay and saved his life. He said if he were homophobic, he would have chosen a different doctor.

The Southern Poverty Law Center's Hatewatch reported that Newsome liked an anonymous comment that used the N-word on Newsome's Gettr social media page. The commenter said, "More attacks on White Americans. And they wonder why we call them (N-words)."

In the interview, Newsome, who has nearly 8,000 followers on Gettr, acknowledged that he inadvertently liked the comment. Once he said he realized his mistake, he deleted the comment and cut off the commenter's access to his page. He said he repudiates such views.

The center also showed how Newsome posted what the group considered a racist caricature of former NBA basketball player Dennis Rodman. Newsome disputed that characterization.

He said he was criticizing Rodman's plan to go to Russia to secure the release of a U.S. citizen.

"This was supposed to be the sarcastic meme I wanted to post, joking about the craziness of Rodman thinking he’s going to represent America in the middle of a war! You will see he’s sweating bullets," Newsome said in a text message to Patch. "I posted the meme as I found it. This isn’t supposed to be racist. (It is a) sarcastic spoof. So (the Southern Poverty Law Center) is the ultimate arbiter of what’s racist?"

Newsome said he found the center's allegation of racism against him especially offensive. He said his son's best friend is African American and is always at his house.

"He sleeps here all the time," Newsome said in a text message. "He's like a fixture of our family. We take him everywhere."

He showed a photo of his son's best friend carving pumpkins with the Newsome family.

Newsome said the Southern Poverty Law Center falsely maligned him.

The center said it sought Newsome's comment for its story.

In response to the center, Newsome issued a statement: "After further advice from counsel I was suggested not to respond to your request. I was informed that Southern Poverty Law is a very extreme discredited far left organization. Furthermore, I was informed that you are a self-proclaimed far left activist intent on using media and communications to 'disrupt privilege' for the sole purpose of social justice. Therefore, I will not be responding."