Florida Rep Who Laughed at Killing Gays Digs In, Won't Apologize

Florida state Rep. Mike Hill is refusing to apologize for laughing at the idea of executing LGBTQ people, but calls for his resignation are intensifying, with Equality Florida starting a petition.

At a constituent meeting in May in Pensacola, Hill, a Republican, laughed when one attendee suggested introducing legislation that would provide for the death penalty for "a man who has an affair with another man," which Hill and the constituent found a basis for in the Bible. After several news outlets reported on the exchange, Hill at first denied laughing and said he barely remembered the conversation, but after he heard the audio he tweeted that he was laughing at the absurdity of the idea.

Both Democrats and Republicans have condemned Hill's behavior and called for at least an apology, but the lawmaker contends he's the target of a "social media lynching."

Rep. Carlos Guillermo Smith, the first openly gay Latino legislator in Florida, has demanded that Hill either apologize or resign. And now the statewide LGBTQ rights group Equality Florida has started a petition urging him to resign.

Hill has continued a pattern of denial, calling coverage of the exchange "fake news" or saying his actions were taken out of context. "I never even said the words," he told radio talk show host Burnie Thompson. "They can't say that I said, 'Let's kill gays.' I did not."