Texan anti-gay Governor told to ‘Go to Hell!’ on flight
Texas Governor Greg Abbott was in New York promoting his home state of Texas – but one New Yorker certainly wasn’t interested in anything Abbot had to say.
Abbott was boarding his flight back to Texas on Tuesday (July 14), when the man approached him, apparently pleased to meet the Senator, as the two shook hands.
Within minutes, though, the man began to hurl abuse at the governor, challenging Abbott’s equally vehement opposition to gay marriage.
“I hope you fucking go to hell because of your stance on gay marriage,” the man told him, adding, “I’m going to see you on the plane.”
However, the man – hailed as a hero by same sex marriage supporters online – was instead taken from the plane, before receiving a hotel room and a new flight in order to avoid a mile high confrontation.
Abbott – who was the Texan attorney general before he was elected governor – has been a constant critic of same-sex marriage, repeatedly refusing to change his stance on the subject.
He last year defended Texas’ ban on same-sex marriage, by bizarrely claiming that banning same-sex marriage reduces the number of unwed mothers.
“By channeling procreative heterosexual intercourse into marriage, Texas’s marriage laws reduce unplanned out-of-wedlock births and the costs that those births impose on society,” he said at the time.
“Recognizing same-sex marriage does not advance this interest because same-sex unions do not result in pregnancy.”
Abbott is amongst an ever-increasing group of conservative politicians who refuse to acknowledge the Supreme Court’s marriage equality ruling, despite it being national law – the enforcement of which being a key responsibility to many of their roles as public servants.
Last month, in the wake of the ruing, he promised that he will continue to defend religious freedom in favour of same-sex marriage.
He said: “Despite the Supreme Court’s rulings, Texans’ fundamental right to religious liberty remains protected.
“No Texan is required by the Supreme Court’s decision to act contrary to his or her religious beliefs regarding marriage.
“The Texas Constitution guarantees that ‘no human authority ought, in any case whatsoever, to control or interfere with the rights of conscience in matters of religion.”
