Alabama mayor apologizes for Facebook post about killing gay people

Birmingham, Ala., Jun 5, 2019 / 11:23 am (CNA).- The mayor of a small town in Alabama has apologized after posting on Facebook that the only way to reclaim America is to kill gay and transgender people, abortionists, and socialists.

"Although I believe my comment was taken out of context and was not targeting the LGBTQ community, I know that it was wrong to say anyone should be kill [sic],” said Carbon Hill Mayor Mark Chambers, according to the Daily Mountain Eagle. “There are not enough words for me to express how much a [sic] regret posting that comment. I hope very much our Citizens and anyone that was hurt by this comment can accept my apology.”

Chambers has served as mayor of Carbon Hill, a city of about 2,000 in northern Alabama, for five years. Last week, he posted on Facebook, “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.”

One of his Facebook friends responded, “By giving the minority more rights than the majority. I hate to think of the country my grandkids will live in unless somehow we change and I think that will take a revolution.”

Chambers then said, “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.”

WBRC Fox6 News contacted Chambers about the post on Monday. He initially denied that he had written the message, saying, “I think that’s somebody else’s post,” the news outlet reported.

In a subsequent conversation, Chambers admitted that he had written the comments, but said they had been taken out of context and were intended to refer to a hypothetical civil war situation.

“If it comes to a revolution in this country both sides of these people will be killed out,” he said, according to WBRC Fox6.

The news outlet said Chambers also stated that he did not realize that he had posted the message publicly, and had believed he was having a private conversation with a friend. He later changed his Facebook settings to private.

On Tuesday, the mayor posted an apology for his previous comments, saying that he takes responsibility for them, and they do not reflect the views of the city.

While the Catholic Church teaches that homosexual actions are immoral, it also affirms the dignity of all people. The Catechism of the Catholic Church calls for respect, sensitivity and compassion for people with homosexual tendencies. “Every sign of unjust discrimination in their regard should be avoided,” it says.