Republican Lawmaker Calls LGBTQIA+ People “Mutants”, Apologises, Then Says It Again
There are many young queer people who grew up watching X-Men and wanting to be a mutant. According to Republican Representative Webster Barnaby from Florida, we already are. Mr Barnaby has come under fire for comparing LGBTQIA+ individuals to “mutants” from the X-Men comics during a debate over gender-affirming care for children, reports QNews.
Although backlash has been severe, Rep. Barnaby isn’t backing down
The comments made by Webster Barnaby were made during a House committee meeting where Mr Barnaby was advocating for a bill to ban gender-affirming care to minors and ban transgender people from bathrooms, reports QNews.
“I’m looking at society today, and it’s like I’m watching an X-Men movie,” says Barnaby. “It’s like we have mutants living among us on planet Earth. This is the planet Earth, where God created men, male, and women, female!” he continued.
These comments have been met with outrage from fellow and they have been met with widespread criticism and condemnation from fellow politicians and the general public.
Barnaby realised immediately following his comparison that calling transgender people “mutants”, “demons” and “imps” may have gone a step too far and he apologised. “I referred to trans people as demons. I would like to apologize to the trans community for referring to you as demons.” he said.
However following the speech going viral, Barnaby has taken to Twitter to double down on his remarks claiming he is proud of them.
DNA OPINION
If Mr Barnaby has ever watched an X-Men film he has missed the point entirely. His comparison of trans and gender non-conforming folks to mutants shows he doesn’t understand that the X-Men narrative is all about embracing differences and that in that story, he would be the villain.
Webster Barnaby just said the quiet thing out loud, ie, that Republican conservatives do not consider LGBTQIA+ people to be human. If they do, they have made a concerted effort to demonstrate the contrary.
