The mayor of a small Alabama town has been called out for suggesting ‘killing out’ gay people in a Facebook comment which has since been deleted.
Mark Chambers compared ‘homosexuals’ and ‘transvestites’ to ‘baby killers’ and ‘socialists’ in the post, WBRC reports.
The Carbon Hill mayor posted the comment on his personal Facebook account, writing: ‘We live in a society where homosexuals lecture us on morals, transvestites lecture us on human biology, baby killers lecture us on human rights and socialists lecture us on economics.’
When a friend replied saying: ‘By giving the minority more rights than the majority. I hate to think of the country my grandkids will live in,’ adding change would ‘take a revolution,’ Chambers responded: ‘The only way to change it would be to kill the problem out. I know it’s bad to say but without killing them out there’s no way to fix it.’
At first, Chambers strenuously denied making the comments to WBRC, but he later claimed they were supposed to said in private and not in a public post, saying they were taken out of context.
He told the TV station:
I never said anything about killing out gays or anything like that,’ insisting he was referring to what would happen if there was a ‘revolution.’
The Carbon Hill mayor quickly backtracked on his comments, writing a public apology on his Facebook on Tuesday, before later deleting his page.
Luckily, Daily Mountain Eagle managed to grab a screenshot of the apology before Chambers’ page was taken down.
In the apology, he wrote:
I would like to make a public apology to my community, I and I alone am responsible for the comment that was made. It is not a reflection of the Carbon Hill City Council, or any City personnel or citizens.
Although I believe my comment was taken out of context and was not targeting the LGVTQ community, I know it was wrong to say anyone should be kill [sic].
I am truly sorry that I have embarrassed our city. I love this city and while in office I have done everything in my power to make this a better place for our families. There are not enough words for me to express how much I regret posting that comment.
I hope very much our citizens and anyone that was hurt by this comment can accept my apology.
If you’ve been affected by any of these issues, and want to speak to someone in confidence contact the LGBT Foundation on 0345 3 30 30 30, 9am until 9pm Monday to Friday, and 10am until 6pm Saturday, Or email helpline@lgbt.foundation
Emma Rosemurgey is an NCTJ trained Journalist who started her career by producing The Royal Rosemurgey newspaper in 2004, which kept her family up to date with the goings on of her sleepy north east village. She graduated from the University of Central Lancashire in Preston and started her career in regional newspapers before joining Tyla (formerly Pretty 52) in 2017, and progressing onto UNILAD in 2019.