Trump’s Army Secretary nominee lashes out at ‘liberal left’ for questioning his anti-LGBT record
Trump’s Army Secretary nominee has lashed out at critics of his long record of homophobia.
Outgoing Army Secretary Eric Fanning made history when Barack Obama appointed him to the role, becoming the first out man to head a military branch.
Donald Trump nominated a replacement for Mr Fanning last week – trying to replace the openly gay official with an anti-gay Tennessee Republican lawmaker, Mark Green.
Mr Green is the author of a Tennessee bill that would grant businesses unlimited rights to discriminate without any action from state agencies, invalidating any non-discrimination protections.
He has also attacked Obama’s civil rights protections for transgender children as an example of “tyrannical government” and said that being transgender is a “disease.”
Meanwhile, he encouraged the state of Tennessee to defy the Supreme Court of the United States to continue denying same-sex couples the right to marry, and in an unearthed radio rant about transgender people called for “evil to be crushed”.
Taking to Facebook today, Green lashed out at his critics, claiming he had been taken out of context on the issues – though we’re not exactly sure how citing specific legislation and publishing full recordings is taking anything ‘out of context’.
He said: “The liberal left has cut and spliced my words about terrorism and ISIS blatantly falsifying what I’ve said. Let me be very clear.
“The only people I have ever called evil are murderous terrorists trying to kill Americans.”
He added: “I believe that every American has a right to defend their country regardless of race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, and religion. It’s the radical left that won’t allow the latter.”
He then shared a link to the website of an anti-LGBT Christian blogger who has ranted about “depraved homosexuals” and made countless posts attacking “open homosexuals”.
Describing the blog, Green claimed: “It would seem that this gentleman has figured out why certain people are cutting and splicing my words to paint me as a hater. “
The blog entry to which Green directly linked refers to a transgender woman as a “man-turned-woman” and repeatedly brands them man.
It goes on to suggest it was inappropriate for a gay person to hold the post of Army Secretary because they “serve over troops who were morally opposed to such behaviour”.
Speaking about trans people previously, Green said: “If you poll the psychiatrists, they’re going to tell you that transgender is a disease.
“You ask about how we fix it ― how we get the toothpaste back in the tube… I gotta tell you ― it’s going to start with me being the salt and the light to the people around me.
“If you really want to bring this back to who’s at fault, we got to look a little bit inwardly. We’ve tolerated immorality. And we’re reflecting light.”
