A South Carolina mayor has sparked the ire of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community after expressing her opposition to same-sex marriage in a Facebook status referencing "queers."
As Fox Carolina is reporting, West Union Mayor Linda Oliver took to Facebook in response to a North Carolina county official's decision to defy his state's ban on same-sex marriage by accepting marriage applications from LGBT couples.
While the mayor's controversial post has since been deleted, Towleroad quotes Oliver as having originally written:
What's it gonna take to get these queers to realize they don't need a piece of paper. God will not bless their union because he plainly speaks against queers in the Bible. Want to cover your queer with insurance? Buy a policy. Want your queer to get your stuff when you die? Make a will.
The post quickly drew an onslaught of criticism from Facebook users. Meanwhile, a Facebook group titled "Recall West Union S.C. Mayor Linda Oliver" was also created in the wake of the controversy.
But Oliver says she anticipated the heated response, telling Fox Carolina, "All I can say is if people want to crucify me, that's fine. I know that following Jesus, I'm going to be crucified."
On the topic of same-sex marriage, she added, "I don't want it rammed down my throat."
Though she insists she'll now use "homosexual," Oliver also defended her use of the word "queer," noting, "The way I feel toward homosexuals is how I've been brought up."
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