A brewery company in Durham, North Carolina, has responded to hateful, anti-LGBTQ comments made by the state’s Lieutenant Governor, Mark Robinson, in the best way possible.
It launched a fundraiser in his name to benefit LGBTQ youth. It’s also donating a portion of the profits from its ‘Don’t Be Mean To People’ beer towards the fund. On top of that, the owners of the brewery have invited the Lt. Gov to sit with them to discuss the issue.
As previously reported on Queerty, Robinson, a Republican, made headlines in October when comments he made at a church in June went viral online.
Robinson spoke out against LGBTQ issues being taught in schools, saying, “There is no reason anybody, anywhere in America should be telling any child about transgenderism, homosexuality or any of that filth. And yes, I called it filth. And if you don’t like it that I called it filth, come see me about it.”
How about we take this to the next level?
Our newsletter is like a refreshing cocktail (or mocktail) of LGBTQ+ entertainment and pop culture, served up with a side of eye-candy.
He has since doubled down on the comments, saying gay people are inferior to straight people. In another speech at a local church in November, he said, “If homosexuality is of God, what purpose does it serve? What does it make? What does it create? It creates nothing.”
Related: North Carolina Lt. Gov says being gay serves no purpose, straight relationships “superior”
Democratic lawmakers in the state have called for him to resign over the comments. Robinson himself has indicated he’s likely to consider a run for Governor.
Ponysaurus Brewing is based in Durham. It specializes in a range of craft beers and ales.
View this post on Instagram
“The Lt. Governor said some not very nice things. But Don’t Be Mean to People believes in the goodness of everyone. So we know in his heart he doesn’t believe other North Carolinians are ‘filth.’ We’re so sure of it, we’re helping to fund the good work that could be his greatest act in public office,” says a message on the Ponysaurus website.
“That’s right — a portion of profits from every pint of Don’t Be Mean To People will go to help the LGBTQ community grow, thrive, and find acceptance. All in the name of his illustrious title.”
Related: Franklin Graham praises North Carolina Lt. Gov. who called gay people ‘filth’
Yesterday, Nick Hawthorne-Johnson and David Baldwin, owners of Ponysaurus, posted a video inviting Robinson to sit with the “over a beer” to discuss the issue.
View this post on Instagram
The organizations to benefit from their ‘Lt Governor’s Fund for the Fabulous’ will be Equality NC and Queer Oriented Radical Days of Summer (QORDS), which arranges camping trips for queer and trans youth.
This isn’t the first time the company has advocated for LGBTQ rights. It launched the ‘Don’t Be Mean To People’ beer in 2016, in conjunction with 40 other breweries, to highlight and register protest against North Carolina’s signing of HB 2, which restricted trans people to use public restrooms per their gender at birth. Again, a portion of the sales went to LGBTQ causes.
Cam
He’s a bigot, therefore he qualifies to be a Republican and an Evangelical .
TheRedLine
He’s driven by his religion and he’ll never be able to separate it from anything else in life.
Jaquelope
He’s literally playing with (Hell)fire by saying he’s such a devout Christian, yet forgetting (or ignoring the fact) that we mere humans can never know, or understand, God’s purpose, and to reject them just because he might not understand things, then that is rejecting God, which is considered blasphemy by nearly every “Christian” denomination.
Openminded
You would think that him being a POC, he would understand better than most just how hurtful and wrong it is to claim one group of people is inferior to another.
Kangol2
You would think that being a gay man, Tombear, you would know better than to be prejudiced and spew racist slurs, because a homophobe could easily substitute the two terms you’re using, and you would think that Openminded, also being gay, would check you, but clearly, neither of you has an issue with racism. Disgusting! And also telling that neither of you had a thing to say about all of the anti-gay White Republican voters who voted this man in.
storm45701
Gluttony is a recognized Biblical sin; homosexuality is not. This fat ass Lt. Governor is going straight to the fiery pits of hell.
JB
I grew up in an evangelical church and I can state from experience that they are the most hateful, bigoted, and unkind people.