US mayor apologises for saying LGBT+ people and abortion rights campaigners should be killed

A US mayor has been forced to apologise amid calls for his resignation after suggesting "killing out" gay people, abortion campaigners and "socialists".In a since-deleted post on Facebook, Mark Chambers, who is mayor of Carbon Hill, Alabama, said killing off minority groups would be necessary in a coming "revolution".“We live in a society where homosexuals lecture us on morals, transvestites lecture us on human biology, baby-killers lecture us on human rights and socialists lecture us on economics," the mayor posted on Facebook.Mr Chambers has been its mayor since 2004 in the town in the north west of Alabama. Despite Carbon Hill having just 2,000 residents, the public post attracted a much wider backlash.This was enflamed further when one of Mr Chambers’ friends on the site responded, saying: “Society is giving the minority more rights than the majority.“I hate to think of the country my grandkids will live in unless somehow we change and I think that will take a revolution.”In a reply the mayor said: “The only way to change it would be to kill the problem out. I know it's bad to say but without killing them out there's no way to fix it."Mr Chambers initially denied that he had been responsible for the post when challenged on it by local news channel WBRC-TV, claiming it had been written by someone else.However he subsequently posted an apology to his Facebook page, which is no longer publicly available.“I and I alone am responsible for the comment that was made," Mr Chambers wrote.“Although I believe my comment was taken out of context and was not targeting the LGTBQ community, I know that it was wrong to say anyone should be killed.“I am truly sorry that I have embarrassed our city, I love this city and while in office I have done everything in my power to make this a better place for our families.”Responding to the story, the National Centre for Transgender Equality highlighted the case of Dana Martin, a trans woman in nearby Montgomery who was the first trans person murdered in 2019.Alabama also has some of the strictest abortion legislation in the country. A bill passed in May outlawed the procedure even in the case of rape.Mr Chambers was reportedly asked to resign by at least one member of a subsequent town council meeting. However, other city leaders said they supported the mayor, who hired the town’s first black police chief and raised budgets in his time in office.Since taking office Donald Trump has regularly championed the idea that white, working class Americans are losing out as a result of migration or equality measures aimed at helping marginalised groups.International Pride month, in June, has started with controversy over te US banning its embassies from flying the LGBT+ pride flag.