A North Carolina state senator on Thursday called for Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson (R) to resign after he made comments referring to homosexuality as “filth”.
In a tweet State Senator Jeff Jackson (D) said, “North Carolina’s Lt. Governor, Mark Robinson, just angrily referred to the LGBTQ community as ‘filth.’ Then he says, ‘Yes I called it filth.’ There’s no debate here. This is open discrimination. It is completely unacceptable. Mark Robinson should resign.”
Robinson made the comments in June preaching at Asbury Baptist Church in Seagrove, N.C., according to The News & Observer. The video circulated recently after it was posted Tuesday on Twitter by Right Wing Watch.
“There’s no reason anybody, anywhere in America should be telling children about transgenderism, homosexuality, any of that filth,” Robinson said. “Yes, I called it filth.”
Robinson in his remarks railed against teaching about LGBT issues in schools.
“We have reached a point in public schools now, where first off, we’re telling our children ‘don’t be so sure you’re a little girl or a little boy,’” Robinson said, apparently referring to transgender students.
In a statement to CBS17, Robison’s said that Jackson’s comments were part of efforts to boost his “losing campaign for Senate.”
“Jeff Jackson is attacking the Lieutenant Governor to try and boost his losing campaign for Senate,” the statement read, according to the local news outlet. “The truth that Jackson is twisting, is that the Lieutenant Governor was referring to teaching about these issues in the classrooms of North Carolina public schools, not to the LGBTQ community. These issues do not belong in a classroom, they should be discussed at home.”
When contacted for comment, Gov. Roy Cooper’s (D- N.C.) office said that is was “abhorrent” to hear an election official use “hateful rhetoric.”
“North Carolina is a welcoming state where we value public education and the diversity of our people. It’s abhorrent to hear anyone, and especially an elected official, use hateful rhetoric that hurts people and our state’s reputation.”
News from the Tar Heel state comes after several GOP-led stat legislatures have introduced or passed bills to restrict access to certain forms of health care for transgender students such as puberty blockers and gender affirmation surgery.