BIDDEFORD — Community members, including two openly gay local legislators, are criticizing a Facebook post directed at Mayor Alan Casavant for being “homophobic.”

The post appeared on the Facebook page “Encouraging Alan Casavant to be Honest” Tuesday and asked Casavant if he had ever engaged in a sex act with a man. The post had been removed as of this morning.

“We ask this question directly to Alan Casavant to answer prior to November 3rd in the spirit of fairness,” the post read. It is unclear who operates the page, which is “liked” by 86 people.

Casavant shared a photo of the post in a statement released Tuesday night and claimed it was the result of “the politicization of the sexual abuse issue in the community.”

Sexual abuse became a much-discussed topic in the city early this year, after a group of men came forward with allegations that they were sexually abused as children by two ex- Biddeford police officers.

The Maine Attorney General’s Office investigated alleged victim Matt Lauzon’s claims but did not charge his alleged abuser, and some residents contend the City Council’s resistance to suspending Police Chief Roger Beaupre in the wake of the allegations played a role in the outcome of that case. Casavant, on the other hand, has repeatedly said city officials did not have evidence to prove Beaupre, who was in command when much of the alleged abuse took place, did anything wrong.

As Election Day has approached, those on both sides have accused each other of using the sexual abuse controversy to gain political leverage.

“I apologize for having to convey such filth, but to me this truly represents a new low in Maine politics,” Casavant said of the Facebook post in his statement Tuesday.

Daniel Parenteau, a business consultant who is challenging Casavant in the mayoral race, said in an email this morning that he and his campaign are in no way associated with the page or the post.

“Over the course of seven months in this campaign, I have stayed the course to run ‘for’ the issues that I believe in and not ‘against’ my opponent,” he said.

Parenteau also commented on the page before the post was taken down, criticizing the content of the post and demanding the page as a whole be removed from Facebook. “This isn’t even politics – it’s an acid bath. … It only breeds voter apathy in my opinion,” he wrote.

Rep. Ryan Fecteau, D-Biddeford, who is the nation’s youngest openly gay state legislator, also released a statement Tuesday night, lambasting the post for what he called “nasty homophobic undertones.” The post suggests that engaging in a homosexual sex act would make Casavant less qualified for the office of mayor, Fecteau argued.

“When I see a post like this one, I cannot help but think of gay youth out there in our community,” he said. “They are four times more likely to commit suicide than their straight peers. What kind of message are we sending them when homophobic attacks like this one are waged against a candidate for political office? Enough is enough.”

In a Facebook message this morning, Rep. Justin Chenette, D-Saco, who is also openly gay, criticized the post for using “inflammatory and suggestive language.”

Chenette is a digital advertising executive at the Journal Tribune.

“Instead of talking about the issues people actually care about to make an informed decision at the polls, we are now talking about a Facebook post from an unknown group who hides behind a keyboard,” said Chenette.

In a video posted on Facebook early this morning, resident Karl Reed Jr. said the post was satirical and not meant to offend the gay community. He did not reveal who runs the page or who wrote the post.

In an email this morning, Lauzon, who has publicly clashed with Casavant in the past, called the mayor’s criticism of the post “a political stunt.” Lauzon added that he has “long been an advocate for equality of all kinds.”

Despite Casavant saying in his statement that the media and the public “certainly know the author of this post,” nobody has claimed ownership of it.

— Staff Writer Angelo J. Verzoni can be contacted at 282-1535, ext. 329 or averzoni@journaltribune.com.