N.C. State Lawmaker: Gays are 'Queers' and 'Fruitloops'

A North Carolina state lawmaker referred to gays as "queers" and "fruitloops" in an email, leading to calls that he apologize.

Republican State Rep. Larry Brown made the comments in a Sept. 27 email sent to fellow legislators, an Oct. 6 Examiner.com story said. The message was about an award presented to N.C. State House Speaker Joe Cackney by a GLBT advocacy group, the Equality NC Foundation.

"I hope all the queers are thrilled to see him," wrote Brown in the email, which was circulated to 60 recipients. "I am sure there will be a couple legislative fruitloops there in the audience." Brown is running unopposed for re-election.

"I think it's disgusting to see a member of the legislature talking about his own constituents and fellow North Carolinians that way," said the executive director of Equality NC Foundation, Ian Palmquist. "I would hope that he would apologize and his colleagues would speak out about that kind of bigotry."

Cackney, a Democrat, supports measures that the state's GOP lawmakers oppose, including a law that would protect GLBT youth from bullying. That issue has received national attention recently, in the wake of a rash of suicides by teenagers who were bullied and harassed at school for being gay.

Cackney has also defended the rights of North Carolina families, opposing efforts to amend the state constitution so as to bar gay and lesbian couples from ever winning the right to enter into wedlock.

"It was not sent to a public group," State House Minority Paul Stam, a fellow GOP lawmaker, pointed out. Stam had written the email to which Brown was responding. Stam added, "There's a lot of language that is used by public officials in public and private that should not be used. I don't use that language myself."

"It is a bad choice of language and I wouldn't have sent it," Republican State Rep. Bill McGee agreed, according to an Oct. 5 story in local newspaper the Winston-Salem Journal. "It is an insulting term. I have truthfully never heard Larry express a sentiment like that. I don't think I have ever expressed such to anybody.

"There are all sorts of groups and organizations that do things that I may or may not agree with," continued McGee, adding, "I don't respond in a way that would include such language."

Brown refused to speak about the email, telling the Winston-Salem Journal, "I didn't send you one." Nor would Brown so much as acknowledge having written the missive: "I'm not saying I did and I'm not saying I didn't," he stated.

Constituents agreed that Brown should apologize, reported local Fox News affiliate FOX8 on Oct. 5. "He makes everybody look bad," Kathy Wilkinson told the news channel. "He needs to apologize. I don't believe in putting anybody down."

"Rep. Brown is doing a huge disservice to his constituency not just his lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender constituency but also anyone in that area that doesn't want to be represented by that kind of thought and speech," said Rebecca Man of Equality NC.

That group has decided to provide Rep. Brown with material evidence of support for the legal rights of gay citizens and their families, reported MyNC.com on Oct. 7. Until the end of the business day on Oct. 11, NC Equality will commemorate every donation made to the group in Brown's name by sending the lawmaker a box of Froot Loops cereal. Each box of cereal will be accompanied by a note from the donor.