GEORGETOWN – SelectBoard member Mike Donahue is suing at least two and possibly three town residents for calling him a “homophobe,” which he believes cost him the 2023 election to serve on the school board.
Donahue ran third in the three-candidate race for a seat on the school committee, losing by about 188 votes.
The issue was Donahue’s perceived opposition to displaying the Gay Pride flags in the Georgetown Middle School.
He is suing Kimberly Fair for $50,000 in Salem Superior Court for “defaming” him. The trial, expected to take at least three days, was set last week for Feb. 17.
In April, he also filed suit against former Georgetown School Committee chair Barbara Linares for an undisclosed sum, claiming he suffered a loss in reputation and other damages as the result of Linares saying he “spewed racism, misogyny (and) homophobia,” his suit states.
The first-term selectman is also suing an unidentified person, “John Doe,” who spoke in opposition of his candidacy at a school board meeting under the name “Michael Hawke,” disguised in a large brim hat and a face mask. Linaries and others allowed his unusual rant against Donahue in extended remarks. The unidentified man, according to the suit, accused Donahue of being a racist, anti-immigrant and a homophobe.
The Town Common is following these law suits, attended a hearing last week in the Fair case, and will try to interview the principals and the attorneys to keep our readers informed about these lawsuits and the underlying accusations against Donahue, a town official. If you have information on these accusations and election/voting attacks, please feel free to contact us by email at editor@thetowncommon.com. ♦
