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PINEHURST, NC – Several North Carolina state officials are demanding that Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson, a Republican, resign after a video was released showing him describing the LGBTQ community as “filth.”
The video, shared for the first time by Right wing guard, a project by the progressive advocacy group People For the American Way, shows Robinson speaking at Asbury Baptist Church in Seagrove during a visit in June, local NBC affiliate WRAL reported.
“I say it now, and I say it, and I don’t care who likes it: these problems have no place in a school. Homosexuality – none of that filth,” he said.
He added, “And yes, I called it dirt. And if you don’t like me calling it dirt, come see me and I’ll explain it to you. It’s time for us to stop letting these children be abused in schools, and that won’t happen until God’s people stand up and demand different schools, the same ones that created these schools to begin with. “
According to LGBTQ media group GLAAD, one of the words Robinson uses – “transgender” – has been adopted by anti-transgender activists to portray being transgender as a condition.
Robinson spokesperson John Wesley Waugh said in an email that the lieutenant governor’s comments “refer to education.”
“The topics surrounding transgender and homosexuality should be discussed at home and not in public education,” Waugh said. “We need to focus on reading, writing and math in North Carolina. Our students have struggled with these subjects even before the pandemic. Our primary focus must be on helping our students succeed, not on subjects that should be discussed at home. ”
When asked if Robinson had a response to criticism that his comments were anti-LGBTQ regardless of the context, Waugh said Robinson “affirms the constitutional right of every individual to identify with or speak out. the way he wants “.
He added, “He is the lieutenant governor of all North Carolinians and will fight for and protect the rights of all citizens. His comments referred to teaching these topics in the classroom, not to individuals from the LGBTQ community.
Robinson is the state’s second-in-command and would replace him if Governor Roy Cooper, a Democrat, left the state or his post. Robinson narrowly beat Democrat Yvonne Lewis Holley in 2020, with 51.6% of the vote versus 48.4% for Holley.
In an emailed statement to NBC News on Friday, Jordan Monaghan, Cooper’s press secretary, called Robinson’s comments “heinous.”
“North Carolina is a welcoming state where we value public education and the diversity of our people. It is odious to hear anyone, and in particular an elected official, use hateful rhetoric that harms people and the reputation of our state, ”the statement said.
Some state senators have taken a tougher line and demand that Robinson resign, calling his remarks discriminatory.
Senator Jeff Jackson, a Democrat representing the 37th District of North Carolina – which includes the state’s most populous city, Charlotte – condemned Robinson’s comments in a series of tweets Thursday and Friday.
“There is no debate here. It is open discrimination. It is totally unacceptable,” Jackson wrote, in part. “Mark Robinson should resign.”
Jackson, who is running for the US Senate in 2022, added that Robinson’s comments were part of a pattern. He said he made openly “hateful and discriminatory” comments about LGBTQ people and other minorities in the past, in connection with an article by local media outlet Cardinal & Pine.
The article includes comments from 2016 Robinson made after the shooting at gay nightclub Pulse in Orlando, Fla., In which 49 patrons – many of them LGBTQ youth – were killed and dozens more injured before the shooter does not die in a shootout with the police. .
“First of all let me say I pray for the souls of all who are killed, for the healing of all injured and for the comfort of family members from the terrorist shooting in Orlando,” wrote Robinson on his Facebook page at the time. “However, homosexuality is ALWAYS an abominable sin and I will not be joining the ‘Gay Pride Celebration’ or waving their sacrilegious flag on my page. Sorry if that offends anyone, but I’m not falling in love with ‘okey-doke media / pop culture.’ “
State Senator Wiley Nickel, a Democrat representing the state’s 16th District, which includes Raleigh and Durham, also called for Robinson’s resignation.
“I support the LGBTQ community and hope you join me in condemning this hate speech by our state’s top elected Republican official,” Nickel wrote on Twitter Friday.
Kendra Johnson, executive director of Equality NC, an LGBTQ nonprofit, said the group condemned Robinson’s “dangerous rhetoric”.
“At a time when LGBTQ people, especially those suffering from multiple levels of marginalization, need a state of support, Robinson has instead proposed transphobia and homophobia,” Johnson said in an email. “No one who thinks like this should be in a position of power, and these discriminatory attitudes underscore the need for comprehensive protections against discrimination in North Carolina.”
LGBTQ advocates have said opinions like Robinson’s do not represent the majority of North Carolinians. So far this year, 10 municipalities have adopted measures that protect LGBTQ people from discrimination in public housing, employment and more.
A 2019 Public Policy Polling poll found that 67% of voters in North Carolina support such legislation, with 19% in opposition.
Voters diverge more when they are broken down by political party. More than three-quarters of the state’s Democrats support non-discrimination legislation, while 12% oppose it. Among Republicans in North Carolina, those numbers are 50% and 32%, respectively.
Allison Scott, director of impact and innovation at Campaign for Southern Equality, a North Carolina-based LGBTQ rights group, said Robinson’s comments reminded her of the slurs the LGBTQ community regularly receives. ten years ago.
“They are shocking in their cheeky homophobia and transphobia and are as unacceptable now as they were 10 years ago,” she said. . It is time for all North Carolinians to embark on this journey to a future where no one faces discrimination or harassment because of who they are. “
Robinson’s comments were specifically about LGBTQ-inclusive classrooms – a topic that has recently joined other culture wars in education, with more and more school districts banning pride symbols and flags. Although, in recent years, advocates have called on educators to make an effort to more openly support LGBTQ people – whether by including LGBTQ figures in classrooms or displaying a pride flag in the classroom – because they say it can benefit LGBTQ. youth.
A 2019 survey by The Trevor Project, an organization for suicide prevention and crisis intervention among LGBTQ youth, found that young gay men who have at least one accepting adult in their life are at risk of attempting to suicide 40% lower.
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