“Don’t Say Gay” GOP lawmaker accused of sexual harassment by 2 male staffers

Two former male staffers of former reality TV performer-turned-Florida state Rep. Fabián Basabe (R) have accused him of sexual harassment. Basabe, who is married to a woman but has avoided questions about his sexual orientation, voted for his state’s infamous “Don’t Say Gay” law.

A 25-year-old legislative aide named Nicolas Frevola said that on December 20, 2022, while attending a Career Day at the North Beach Elementary School in Miami, Frevola slapped his rump and said, “I want all of that butt.” He also accused Basabe of once slapping him across the face.

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Additionally, a 24-year-old unpaid intern in Basabe’s office named Jacob Cutbirth said that on December 15, 2022 he drove Basabe to a hotel after Basabe had been drinking. During the drive, Basabe allegedly groped Cutbirth, tried to kiss him, and invited him up to his room to have sex.

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Cutbirth said Basabe called him “eye candy,” asked if he had a “big d**k,” told him that part of his job was to flirt with Basabe while in the office, and directed Cutbirth to sign a non-disclosure agreement that would bar him from publicly discussing his employment. Cutbirth also said that Basabe advised him to call off his engagement to his girlfriend and “explore his sexuality by having sex with men.”

Both men said that Basabe showed them an image of a naked man on his phone, encouraged them to try “sport f**king” (uncommitted casual sex), and said that he himself was “a bottom” but that they should be “tops.”

When Frevola and his mother reported Basabe’s alleged assaults to the Florida House Human Resources Department, the state house investigated the claims. The investigation’s final three-page report found that Basabe had once touched Frevola but added that investigations into Frevola’s slapping claim had proved “inconclusive.”

After the report’s release, Basabe wrote in a June 29 Twitter post that he was disappointed by “the generally lazy, entitled, unscrupulous, self-involved, lying scum who would almost continuously and falsely trash and diminutive the reputation of those around him… all clearly for personal gain,” possibly referring to Frevola, though he didn’t mention his name.

Basabe also wrote that his accuser belonged in a “special kind of hell” and said that Frevola and his mother have “a reported history of lawsuits against anyone who they think can or will pay,” though he provided no proof of his claim.

Frevola, his mother, and Cutbirth filed a civil lawsuit against Basabe on Thursday in Leon County Circuit Court. The suit accuses Basabe of defamation and battery. The men are seeking a court trial by jury.

Basabe has denied any wrongdoing. His attorney, Robert Fernandez, called the lawsuit “frivolous and meritless” and said that the politician wouldn’t be “giving it any more public attention than it deserves — which is none.”

During his 2022 election campaign, Basabe campaigned as a moderate who supports LGBTQ+ rights. However, he voted in favor of Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” law which forbids schools from discussing LGBTQ+ issues. Basabe also voted in favor of banning children from seeing drag performances.

Basabe rode in Miami Beach’s Gay Pride parade, but was “booed and heckled by parade goers,” CBS News reported.

Basabe previously appeared in the reality TV shows Young, Rich and Famous and Filthy Rich: Cattle Drive.