Albany County legislator George Langdon IV thought he would show his Christian "love" by suggesting gay people be isolated on their own island so they'd just die out over time. Langdon made these comments at a conference where the topic at hand was "Return to Liberty Under the Constitution." Liberty for Langdon is just another thing for people he hates to lose, apparently.
"Everything God does is sustainable. It’s sustainable! It goes on and on and on. It’s perpetual," Langdon argued.
"Sorry, when you have homosexual relationships, it’s not perpetual," he continued. "Give them an island, they’ll be gone after 40 years. Okay? Because they can’t… "
Say it, Langdon. They can't reproduce? Except they can. Of course they can. That's just hateful stupid talk, which ignores the fact that most gay people are the children of straight people. Being LGBTQ is not a genetic trait; it's just who people are. Why is it that the old white men have so much trouble with that?
It should also be noted that no one stands up at a conference ostensibly focused on "liberty" and suggests straight childless couples should be consigned to their own island where they can die, too. So let's not pretend this is actually about reproduction when it's just straight up homophobia.
Continuing the lecture, he said, "God created us to be this way! There’s so much common sense that needs to be applied to our policies, our procedures, the things that we do in our government."
Suggesting that all gay people be put on an island to eradicate LGBTQ folks is not just homophobic, it's ignorant and hateful, and it's certainly not based in common sense.
After the controversy blew up, Langdon issued a lame apology which basically failed to own his hateful attitude toward his fellow man but sort of admitted he'd gone too far.
“I sincerely apologize to the LGBTQ community and all others for the hurtful remarks recently made at a conference,” he said in a statement after the comments were shared on social media. “I have never been homophobic nor do I think any individuals should be placed on an island. I deeply regret my foolish off-the-cuff comment that has caused so much pain.”
“I commit to doing a better job of respecting diversity. I hope my years of past public service demonstrate genuine concern for all individuals. I will be taking time to reflect on how to best serve moving forward.”
Well, except he absolutely does believe individuals whose choices he doesn't see as "Christian" should just ostracized from polite society. This is not uncommon among evangelicals.
His apology did nothing to quell the controversy. Ultimately he just went ahead and resigned.
Friendly Atheist at Patheos writes:
Good riddance. Looks like the backlash was too overwhelming. (Do you know how awful you have to be to resign when you’re a member of a party that routinely caters right-wing bigots?)
Before anyone says it, this isn’t “cancel culture.” This is a rotten human being coming to grips with the fact that the one job he shouldn’t have is representing other humans in a leadership role. He’s free to express his hate in a conservative Christian church, where his bigotry is part of the package, but he doesn’t belong in government, where his genocidal fantasies could impact other people’s lives. No one will miss him in local government.
And remember, this is a guy who was giving a speech at a conservative conference on "returning" to liberty under the Constitution, as if that liberty is only for straight Christian white people. No, it's not "cancel culture." It's justice.
[h/t RightWingWatch]
