Editorial: They are our children, siblings, friends. They are not 'filth'

They are our sisters, our brothers, our parents, our children and our neighbors. But to North Carolina’s Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson, they are “filth.”

At best, it is a cynical ploy to find a way to profit, at least politically, from his divisive rhetoric. Is this the kind of behavior that should be coming from a member of the State Board of Education and state Community College Board?

At the root of Robinson’s campaign isn’t so much what kinds of materials should, or should not, be used in a classroom.

It is that he considers some of the kinds of relationships and gender identifications discussed in the books as “filth.”

Does not fitting Mark Robinson’s criteria for appropriate or correct necessarily make them “filth?” No, it merely makes them different from him. That is no justification for ridicule.

Robinson presides over the state Senate. Imagine being a member of the Senate, who happens to fit into Robinson’s definition of filth. Imagine being a member of the Senate whose children, friends, relatives or neighbors fit into Robinson’s filth category. Could they – should they -- possibly believe he respects them as they respect him and the office he holds?

The 50 members of the Senate deserve to be presided over by someone who respects them and all North Carolinians – regardless of their race, gender, faith, who they love or how they identify.

State senators, regardless of their political affiliation, should summon their sense of honor and refuse to submit to being led in their legislative deliberations by someone who demonstrates such disdain for them and their constituents.

If Lt. Gov. Robinson is to have a platform, it should not be the podium at the head of the N.C. State Senate.