Tuesday a Florida republican equated lesbian mothers and drug abusers, labeling both "dysfunctional" and "atypical" households that get in the way of a child's education.
As part of a panel discussion on how to improve the state's middle schools, Rep.Dennis Baxley (R-Ocala) lamented the lack of "functional" parents in his own district:
It's easy to say parents need to get involved, but half these kids are raising themselves. They don't have any parents that are functional. ... I mean I sat an hour and a half with a teacher telling me: 'This child has got serial men coming through the house, this one has two mommies, this one has abusive father whose home, this has alcoholism, this one has drug abuse.' It was a casualty warfare event to hear -- just her classroom -- how many dysfunctional, atypical -- to me -- structures are in the way of a kid having a chance to learn.
Watch the video excerpt above or video of Baxley's full comments here (beginning at minute 2:24).
Equality Florida is now demanding an apology on behalf of the LGBT community
“We hope Representative Baxley has the decency to apologize for his comments disparaging gay parents and our children. More than that, we invite Representative Baxley to educate himself, talk with us and actually meet our families," Nadine Smith, CEO of Equality Florida, wrote in a release. "We are a diverse state and no elected official can fulfill their oath of office if they only respect and care about the people and families that look just like their own.”
Baxley, a former executive director of the Christian Coalition of Florida, is behind some of the most conservative legislation in the state.
He is known as the father of the original 2005 'Stand Your Ground' law, he sponsoredstricter voting guidelines despite lack of evidence of voter fraud, and he pushed for more guns in schools in the wake of the Sandy Hook shooting.