North Carolina Lt. Gov. who called transgenderism ‘filth’ ‘will not back down’ amid calls for resignation
‘I will not be silenced and I will not be bullied into submission,’ Robinson said
Republican North Carolina Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson said he “will not back back down” amid Democatic calls for his resignation after he said “trangenderism” and homosexuality should not be taught to children, referring to it as “filth.”
“Let me tell you plainly right here and right now: I will not back down,” Robinson said in a video posted to Facebook on Saturday. “I will not be silenced and I will not be bullied into submission. I will continue to fight for the rights of our children to receive an education that is free from sexual concepts that do not belong in the classroom.”
The Republican’s video came in response to condemnation from a White House official and other Democrats for comments he made in June at Asbury Baptist Church in Seagrove.
“There’s no reason anybody anywhere in America should be telling any child about transgenderism, homosexuality, any of that filth,” he said during the event, in video that was recently posted on social media. “And yes, I called it filth, and if you don’t like that I called it filth, come see me and I’ll explain it to you.”
Deputy White House press secretary Andrew Bates, a native of North Carolina, referred to the comments as “repugnant and offensive.”
North Carolina State Senator Jeff Jackson and North Carolina State Senator Wiley Nickel, both Democrats, are now calling on Robinson to resign, with Nickel saying the Republican is “a disgrace and an embarrassment to our state.”