The mayor of a small town in Alabama apologized Tuesday after making a post on Facebook that appeared to advocate in favor of killing members of the LGBT community.
Carbon Hill Mayor Mark Chambers initially denied making the post before issuing the following statement on his now-deactivated Facebook page, according to NBC News: “I and I alone am responsible for the comment that was made. Although I believe my comment was taken out of context and was not targeting the LGTBQ community, I know that it was wrong to say anyone should be killed.”
UPDATE: Carbon Hill Mayor Mark Chambers is now apologizing for comments he made on social media. He claims his comments on killing people in the LGBTQ community and Democrats were taken out of context. Some people are calling on him to resign: pic.twitter.com/wdVwmdnIZ2
— Josh Gauntt (@joshg_TV) June 4, 2019
The apology stems from a post he published in all caps Friday, according to WBRC-TV, in which he said: “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.”
The initial post sparked backlash, but he originally defended his statements in an interview with WBRC-TV.
“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,” Chambers argued on Facebook.
Former Speaker of the New York City Council Christine Quinn addresses attendees during a gathering of the LGBTQ community and supporters protesting U.S. President Donald Trump’s agenda in Manhattan, New York, U.S., February 4, 2017. REUTERS/Andrew Kelly – RC1CBED31C90
The Human Rights Campaign’s Meghan Kissell condemned the remarks saying, “Carbon Hill Mayor Mark Chambers recently endorsed and defended his own social media posts in which he called for LGBTQ people to be killed. This is horrifying, unconscionable and unacceptable.”
Alabama Mayor, Mark Chambers says that we should kill all LGBTQ people. Remember, elections matter. #Pride #PrideMonth #Pride2019 https://t.co/UGBibE0UMD
— Eric Rosswood (@LGBT_Activist) June 4, 2019
Carbon Hill is a city of less than 2,000 people.