SANTA BARBARA, Calif. (AP) — A gay couple in the leadership of the Santa Barbara County Democratic Central Committee resigned to protest what they called “backroom dealing and backstabbing.”

Keith Coffman-Grey, former committee chair, and former secretary Neil Coffman-Grey had earlier this year criticized state Assemblymember Hannah-Beth Jackson (D-Santa Barbara) for opposing a gay marriage bill.

In an Aug. 12 memo to committee members, Keith Coffman-Grey objected to a recent letter that he said was drafted by the executive committee and sent to Jackson, apologizing for his and Neil’s behavior. The executive committee letter didn’t include the Coffman-Greys.

Keith Coffman-Grey said the draft was never put to a vote and he demanded the resignation of Rebecca Carey, the committee vice chair for the north county.

“I am appalled by the ‘behind-the-scenes’ behavior,” Coffman-Grey wrote in his memo. “This is the type of schoolyard politics that has turned people away for years from your central committee and made it an ineffectual body.

“In all the history of gays being at the fringes of society, and even today when we are treated like dirt by the President and Pope alike, who feel we are expendable and without honor, we thought the Santa Barbara County Democratic Central Committee, who we thought of as friends as well as allies ... would stand up for injustice against gay and lesbian people.”