A legislative committee has dismissed allegations of misconduct against a Grants Pass Republican who read a sexually explicit book passage on the House floor.
In a split vote, the House Committee on Conduct last week decided District 3 State Representative Dwayne Yunker did not violate legislative rules or create a hostile work environment when he read a passage from young adult novel "The Haters" on the House floor in March.
The Oregonian reports Yunker -- who routinely uses the three minutes allotted to each lawmaker each floor session to make comments to rail against Democrats and LGBTQ+ issues -- read the passage to protest the book's accessibility to high schoolers in his district.
The Oregon Legislative Equity Office received at least two complaints from legislative staff members alleging Yunker made sexually explicit remarks on the House floor that day. The identities of the staff members were not disclosed during the meeting or in a report investigating the instance.
One of the staff members subsequently accused Yunker of retaliation when Yunker publicly disclosed the letter that the Oregon Legislative Equity Office had delivered to his office informing him of the allegations against him.
Two of the four lawmakers on the committee -- Republican Representatives Kevin Mannix of Salem and Ed Diehl of Stayton -- voted to dismiss the allegations that Yunker engaged in verbal conduct of a sexual nature. Meanwhile, Democratic Representatives Jason Kropf of Bend and Thủy Trần of Portland voted to support the allegations. The motion failed to pass because of the 2-2 tie.
Yunker was not present at the meeting, but shortly after the meeting concluded, he celebrated the committee's decision on social media. He stood by every word he read and would not apologize for defending parental rights and biblical values.
