A Utah Republican leader was forced to resign after he made comments on women and equal pay earlier in February.
Vice Chair of the Wasatch County GOP James Green wrote a letter to the editor, which was published in two local Utah papers, arguing that equal pay for women could harm society in response to a bill coming before the Utah legislature, reports The Washington Post.
Green resigned Friday as vice chair, according to the communications director for the Utah GOP.
Green wrote a letter in response to Senate Bill 210, which focuses on equal pay and would force some employers to create a standard to determine who gets raises or not.
Green claimed that men need to make more than women so they can support their families. If women start earning more money, men’s wages will be lowered as a result, Green reasoned.
“If that happens, then men will have an even more difficult time earning enough to support their families, which will mean more Mothers will be forced to leave the home (where they may prefer to be) to join the workforce to make up the difference,” Green wrote, adding that this would hurt society at large.
Green said the outrage over the letter was so great that he chose to leave his position.
“I didn’t want to hurt the party any further,” he said. “They didn’t force me to do it. There was no coercion. I chose to step down.”
Fellow Republicans criticized Green for his letter, calling it appalling.
“I am shocked and appalled to learn how James Green feels about about equal pay for women. I don’t know where this belief came from,” GOP State Rep. Tim Quinn said.
The Utah Women’s Coalition also condemned Green’s comments as “very disappointing.”
Green apologized in a second letter, saying that he did not mean to offend women.
“Secondly, I want to clarify the main focus of my letter was to express that I don’t feel the government should be dictating to private establishments what they must do in regard to employment, hiring, or wages,” he wrote.
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