A candidate for city council in St. Petersburg Florida has spoken out against the city’s LGBT pride parade.
From Advocate.com:
Chico Cromartie, who made these comments, is running for the municipal office on the platform that being gay is a choice, according to the Tampa Bay Times.
The newspaper took note when Cromartie, during St. Pete Pride last month, started posting virulently homophobic messages on his Facebook page.
“I hear you south St. Pete! Finally we have a leader who’s not afraid to say, ‘Too [sic] hell with gay pride & their flag,'” he wrote on June 23, a day after Pride began in the city.
Party chair Todd Jennings has disavowed this. While Cromartie may have used some language that may be a bit harsh, Jennings, a Republican, should probably be focused on his job as chairman instead of weighing on local city council candidates who aren’t even elected yet. When a person of political influence within a party makes statements like this it can be taken as though they are taking preference for a candidate or trying to earn good boy points from the media.
Cromartie, who has certainly been a controversial figure, claims he is representing the people, not necessarily a party, and believes tax dollars spent on an LGBT pride parade could be better spent on things like helping poor minorities.
From FloridaPolitics.com:
“Mr. Cromartie’s disappointing statements clearly run contrary to these principles. Mr. Cromartie, although a registered Republican, is running in a non-partisan race, and the Pinellas GOP has neither supported nor endorsed his candidacy,” Jennings continued.
Cromartie is not leaving the race, nor will he apologize.
“I represent the people in this community and the American people. I don’t represent a party per se,” Cromartie said. “The party is entitled to their views and I’m fine with that. I disagree with homosexuality and I always will.”
Cromartie lamented the blowback following media reports on his anti-LGBTQ views. He said Americans have the right to disagree and his views should be able to be freely shared.
Cromartie made several references to LGBTQ issues in a series of Facebook posts spanning several weeks.
Cromartie and those who support him are of the opinion that whether you like his rhetoric or not, it is up to all of the voters in St. Petersburg to decide who they want to vote for, especially in a non-partisan election, although he is a Republican, not local GOP party leaders.