The surfaced video shows Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson, a Republican, addressing a congregation and making derogatory remarks about LGBT+ people back in June.
North Carolina Lt. Governor Mark Robinson is facing calls to resign after he was caught on video calling gay and transgender people ‘filth’.
Advocacy group Right Wing Watch shared the clip (below), where Robinson can be seen ranting that schools shouldn’t be teaching children how to “hate America”, then adding: “There is no reason anybody, anywhere in America should be telling any child about transgenderism, homosexuality or any of that filth”, which was met with agreement from some of the crowd.
“Yes I called it filth”, he then reiterates.
The term ‘transgenderism’ is considered hugely derogatory to transgender people and is regularly appropriated by anti-trans bigots activists to dehumanize trans individuals and imply their humanity is some sort of ‘condition’.
Robinson would be in line to take over if the state’s current Democratic Governor Roy Cooper stood down or was impeached.
North Carolina Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson says Christians must take control of public schools because children are being abused by being taught "filth": "There's no reason anybody anywhere in America should be telling any child about transgenderism, homosexuality, any of that filth." pic.twitter.com/aXjCPFKTs0
— Right Wing Watch (@RightWingWatch) October 6, 2021
North Carolina's Lt. Governor, Mark Robinson, just angrily referred to the LGBTQ community as "filth."
— Sen. Jeff Jackson (@JeffJacksonNC) October 7, 2021
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. pic.twitter.com/rUhzXZm8Jd
“It’s time for us to stop letting these children be abused in schools, and it’s not going to happen till the people of God stand up and demand different, same ones that established those schools to begin with,” Robinson continued.
Senator Jeff Jackson, who represents North Carolina’s 37th District, posted a series of tweets demanding Robinson’s resignation.
‘North Carolina’s Lt. Governor, Mark Robinson, just angrily referred to the LGBTQ community as ‘filth’,’ he tweeted.
‘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.’
Jackson called Robinson’s comments ‘old school hate’ and said that the LGBTQ+ community should not have to deal with this hate any longer.
‘To our LGBTQ friends who were the targets of this discrimination, you’ve had to put up with this hate for far too long,’ he wrote.
This isn’t the first time Robinson has publicly made his anti-LGBT+ stance clear. Back in 2016, the Republican called homosexuality an ‘abominable sin’ and said he would not ‘fly their sacrilegious flag on my page’ in the aftermath of the Pulse nightclub mass shooting.
On his Facebook page, at the time, he posted: ‘First, let me say that I pray for the souls of all those killed, healing for all those wounded, and comfort for the family members of the terrorist shooting in Orlando’
‘However, homosexuality is STILL an abominable sin and I WILL NOT join in ‘celebrating gay pride’ nor will I fly their sacrilegious flag on my page’, he continued.
‘Sorry if this offends anyone, but I’m not falling for the media/pop culture ‘okey-doke.”
49 people were murdered and 53 wounded in the Orlando nightclub shooting, in a targeted attack on the LGBT+ community. It is the deadliest incident in the history of violence against LGBT people in the United States and at the time was the deadliest mass shooting in American history.
Despite the video from this June surfacing and calls for his resignation, it would appear that Robinson has chosen to double down on his stance.
He told WRAL that he would not be reigning: “We will not be intimidated. We will not back down. We will not change our language,” Robinson said. “The language I used, I am not ashamed of it. I will use it in the future because, again, it is time for parents in this state to take a strong stand for their children.”
The White House have responded to the clip resurfacing: “These words are repugnant and offensive,” said Andrew Bates, White House deputy press secretary and a native of North Carolina, in a statement.
“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.”