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Several members of the Big Sky Tea Party Association have resigned after the weekend removal of the group's president.

The association's board voted to remove president Tim Ravndal after a Facebook exchange appeared to condone violence against homosexuals.

"The board read his statements in the Great Falls Tribune and immediately set up an emergency board meeting the following day. We do not believe that any type of racial, sexual, ethnicity bigotries is allowed in our rallies," former BSTPA chairman Roger Nummerdor said.

But board member Tom Baird says he did not know about the weekend vote. He calls it a "knee-jerk reaction that cannot be reversed."

Baird resigned on Tuesday.

Tea Party secretary and candidate for legislature Kristi Allen Gailushas also said she is stepping down from her involvement in the party. She says her decision is not due to her own controversial Facebook comments regarding homosexuality.

In a recent online post, she wrote, "The gay community wants a war...they've got one."

"I didn't mean a literal gun war but a war of truth and the hypocrisy they espouse," she later posted.

As of Tuesday, a Facebook apology by Ravndal has more than 400 responses.