In reacting to the news that the
Mecklenburg County board of commissioners will consider censuring him
for calling gay people “sexual predators,” Commissioner Bill
James likened gay people to “pedophiles.”
The board of commissioners will
consider a resolution against the North Carolina lawmaker at
Tuesday's meeting, the
Charlotte Observer reported.
James attracted national headlines last
week when he chided County Commission Chair Jennifer Roberts, a
Democrat, for raising the issue of thanking members of North
Carolina's Congressional delegation for supporting repeal of “Don't
Ask, Don't Tell,” the law that bans gay and bisexual troops from
serving openly.
“Homosexuals are sexual predators,”
James, a Republican, wrote in an email. “Allowing homosexuals to
serve in the US military with the endorsement of the Mecklenburg
County Commission ignores a host of serious problems related to
maintaining U.S. military readiness and effectiveness not the least
of which is the current Democrat plan to allow homosexuals (male and
female) to share showers with those they are attracted to.”
The proposed resolution was drafted by
Commissioner Harold Cogdell, who said James' actions have tarnished
the community's image.
“I felt that the image of our
community was being impacted in a way that did not reflect the core
values of what Charlotte-Mecklenburg is really about,” Cogdell, a
Democrat, said.
James disagreed, saying he was only
speaking his mind.
“This isn't about, I don't think,
some sort of consensus,” he told the paper on Sunday. “This is
about the speech police and controlling an issue that they have
gotten a lot of heat over, because you can't go around censuring
people for having a different opinion, or for expressing it.”
“It's like having a resolution saying
we're going to be uber-sensitive to prostitutes and pedophiles
because we don't want them to get mad,” he added.