North Carolina Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson said he “will not back down” after being condemned nationally for calling “transgenderism” and homosexuality “filth.”
In a video message Saturday, Robinson blamed “the media and those on the left” for trying to “change the focus from education to the LGBTQ community — specifically, that I hate them.” In the video, Robinson shared sexually explicit illustrations from a book he said is now in unnamed schools, calling it an example of what he was criticizing as “filth.”
“I will fight for and protect the rights of all citizens, including those in the LGBTQ community to express themselves however they want,” he said. “However, the idea that our children should be taught about concepts of transgenderism and be exposed to sexually explicit materials in the classroom is abhorrent.”
Robinson, a Republican, faced calls for his resignation after anti-LGBTQ comments from a June speech circulated on social media last week. In a now-viral clip, Robinson said: “There’s no reason anybody, anywhere in America should be telling children about transgenderism, homosexuality, any of that filth. Yes, I called it filth.”
“I will fight for and protect the rights of all citizens, including those in the LGBTQ community to express themselves however they want. However, the idea that our children should be taught about concepts of transgenderism and be exposed to sexually explicit materials in the classroom is abhorrent."
The White House said in a Friday statement that his comments were “repugnant and offensive,” The News & Observer reported.
“The role of a leader is to bring people together and stand up for the dignity and rights of everyone; not to spread hate and undermine their own office,” said Andrew Bates, White House deputy press secretary and a native of North Carolina.
North Carolina Democratic Senate candidates Jeff Jackson, Erica Smith and Cheri Beasley, as well as the Human Rights Campaign which advocates for LGBTQ rights, have called for Robinson to resign.
“This is not the first time Robinson has shared his discriminatory views, but it should be the last time he gets away with it as an elected leader,” HRC Interim President Joni Madison said in a statement. “North Carolinians deserve better than these dehumanizing comments.”
“The role of a leader is to bring people together and stand up for the dignity and rights of everyone; not to spread hate and undermine their own office."
In the Saturday video, Robinson said the critical response to his comments was an attempt to “silence voices on the right.”
Virginia book debate surfaces in NC
Robinson pointed to three books, “George,” by Alex Gino, “Lawn Boy,” by Jonathan Evison and “Gender Queer,” by Maia Kobabe — which tackle themes of gender identity and sexuality — as examples of “sexually explicit materials.”
Robinson said “Gender Queer,” an illustrated memoir, was “currently in North Carolina schools,” before sharing images from the book that appeared to depict sexual fantasies or acts among the characters.
“As you look at these photos, I challenge you to describe them as anything other than filth,” he said.
The lieutenant governor’s office did not respond to multiple N&O requests for comment Sunday, including questions about which schools were alleged to have used the books and how they were said to have been used.
This year, Robinson asked the public for examples of educators promoting leftist views. He collected more than 500 submissions as part of compiling what he called an “Indoctrination in North Carolina Public Education Report,” including a report of Wake County fourth-grade students reading “George.”
Robinson said the book — which follows a young transgender girl struggling with others perceiving her as a boy — includes talk of removing genitalia, the N&O previously reported.
His latest comments came just weeks after a parent in Fairfax County, Virginia, said “Gender Queer” and “Lawn Boy” were inappropriate.
The books were pulled from circulation after the complaint and are under review by the school district, WUSA9 reported.
While some gathered to protest the books last week, a coalition of more than 400 students at Fairfax County schools wrote a letter asking the school board to reject calls to remove the books, according to the news outlet.
“Hundreds of books in our schools already depict heterosexual relationships and physical intimacy,” students wrote in the letter. “By holding books that describe LGBTQIA+ relationships to a different standard compared to these novels, FCPS creates an inequitable, exclusionary, and heteronormative educational environment for Queer students.”
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