NC faith leaders decry Lt. Gov. Robinson’s stances on abortion, LGBTQ+ equality

Rev. C.J. Brinson of the group Down Home North Carolina speaks in front of the state Legislative Building. (Photo: Ahmed Jallow)

A group of faith leaders spoke in front of the state Legislative Building Wednesday, criticizing Republican gubernatorial candidate Mark Robinson’s positions on abortion and LGBTQ+ issues.

Speakers questioned the lieutenant governor’s recent shift on abortion, accused him of misrepresenting Christianity, and of fueling a rise in Christian nationalism in North Carolina.

“We are here today because we are united as a multi-racial group, multi-faith group, of individuals who feel compelled to come out against Mark Robinson and his bid for governor, and to neutralize his voice as a moral leader here in the state of North Carolina,” said Rev. C.J. Brinson, who is also a regional organizer for Down Home North Carolina .

Robinson, whose rise in conservative politics has been fueled by a close association with conservative Christian groups and churches, recently seemed to change his stance on abortion. In a campaign ad released earlier this month, Robinson alluded to an abortion he and his wife Yolanda decided she should obtain prior to their marriage and said he supports North Carolina’s law banning abortions after 12 weeks of pregnancy, and that he now backs “common sense” exceptions for cases involving rape, incest and risk to the life of the mother. It marked a sharp break from his previous statements on the issue in which he had repeatedly and adamantly condemned abortion under any circumstances.

The speakers at Wednesday’s event expressed skepticism about the shift. “I have no faith in Mark Robinson’s new commitment to uphold the state’s current abortion law allowing access up to 12 weeks,” said Rev. Chalice Overy of Raleigh’s Pullen Memorial Baptist Church. “The reason I have no faith in this is because Mark Robinson has given no explanation of what has sparked his change of heart from earlier in the year… he has not told us what has transpired on the inside that would change anything since the time he talked about passing a bill that would have completely banned abortion with no exceptions.”

Earlier this year, Robinson told a gathering in Pitt County that he wanted to see abortion banned completely, saying, “We’ve got to do it that same way they rolled it forward, we’ve got to do it the same way with rolling it back. We’ve got it down to 12 weeks. The next goal is to get it down to six, and then just keep moving from there.”

In a 2018 Facebook post, Robinson called abortion “genocide.” He has also previously said “there is no compromise on abortion,” and that “it makes no difference to me why or how that child ended up in that womb.”

Many critics are calling Robinson’s new stance on abortion a ploy by the GOP nominee to appear less extreme as the fall election approaches. “If this weren’t an election year, does anyone seriously believe that Mark Robinson wouldn’t still be pushing for a total abortion ban that he was just [pushing] under a year ago?” asked Anderson Clayton, the North Carolina Democratic Party chair, during a virtual press conference last week.

Speakers at Wednesday’s event also highlighted Robinson’s frequent condemnations of LGBTQ+ people — many of which have been voiced during his frequent appearances at conservative churches. In one such appearance in Charlotte last year, Robinson said that God “formed” him to fight against the push for LGBTQ acceptance, which he claimed is turning America into a “hellhole.” “Makes me sick every time I see it — a church that flies that Rainbow flag, which is a direct spit in the face of God almighty,” Robinson said.

Nancy Petty, Overy’s colleague and the senior pastor at Pullen Church, said Robinson does not represent the Christian faith “with his hate speech, and he has totally missed the mark of Jesus’s main message: to love one another.”

Rev. Lynice Pinkard, a queer pastor at the Southern Conference of the United Church of Christ, said North Carolinians should unite against what she said were threats to progress.

“We are calling all people who are committed to life and love, to justice and mercy, to reconciliation and restoration, to join hands in human community, to defy the forces that seek to reverse any of our gains and take us even one step back.”