North Carolina Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson again made disparaging remarks about LGBTQ+ people, this time at a Winston-Salem church, according to a video of the sermon made November 14. Robinson, a Republican who is expected to run for governor in 2024, questioned the “purpose” of being gay; said heterosexual couples are “superior” to gay couples; and that he didn’t want to explain to his grandchildren why two men are kissing if they see that on television.
The remarks were made at Berean Baptist Church in Winston-Salem. They’re the latest statements he has made against gay, lesbian and transgender people, leading some state Democrats to call for his resignation. The White House previously called his remarks “repugnant” and said they spread hate.
Robinson compared being gay to “what the cows leave behind” as well as maggots and flies, who he said all serve a purpose in God’s creation. “If homosexuality is of God, what purpose does it serve? What does it make? What does it create? It creates nothing,” Robinson said.
The video was distributed November 19 by a pastor at St. John’s Metropolitan Community Church in Raleigh, the day before the Transgender Day of Remembrance. A protest rally was held Friday in front of Robinson’s office, but organizers also read the names of transgender people who have been killed.
“This man’s theology and religious practices are not only flawed and a perversion of the Christian tenets; he places countless people at risk of violent attacks and even murder every time he opens his mouth,” said Vance Haywood, senior pastor at St. John’s, in a statement. Robinson made several remarks that indicated he knew that groups opposing him would make his comments public. Robinson said he was once asked by a gay man: “So you think your wife and you, you think your heterosexual relationship is superior to my husband and my homosexual relationship?” “Yes!” Robinson emphatically told the congregation.
“These people are superior because they can do something these people can’t do,” Robinson said, referencing having a child. “Because that’s the way God created it to be. And I’m tired of this society trying to tell me it’s not so.”
Anti-LGBTQ Violence
Robinson said his role as lieutenant governor is different than when he is preaching in church. “In America, you have the right to be a homosexual and, as an elected official, I have a duty to protect your constitutional rights, and I will,” he said. “But we in church right now, and we are talking about church stuff, we are talking about God stuff.”
Ron Baity, the church’s pastor, introduced Robinson, calling him “a breath of fresh air here in North Carolina” and introducing him as “the next governor of the state of North Carolina.” At the beginning of the service, Baity said it was not a political rally.
But Robinson’s speech touched on many political issues, including inflation, gas prices, Afghanistan, President Joe Biden’s abilities and recent news events. “He got a program called Build Back Better. I think he ought to put it back like he found it and leave it alone,” Robinson said of Biden’s social spending plan. But a significant portion of the speech was focused on LGBTQ+ issues.
“Ain’t but two genders – male and female. Two. There are two genders, male and female,” Robinson said to a standing ovation. “I don’t care how much you cut yourself up, drug yourself up and dress yourself up, you still either one of two things – you either a man or a woman. You might be a cut up, dressed up, drugged up ugly man or woman, but you still a man or a woman, and I don’t care who doesn’t like it.”
The Human Rights Campaign said 47 transgender or non-gender conforming people have been shot or killed by other violent means in 2021, including three in North Carolina. Two happened in Charlotte while one happened in Jacksonville.
This article previously appeared in the Charlotte Observer.