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

Mike Hill says he's the subject of a "social media lynching." Equality Florida says he should resign.

Trudy Ring

Trudy Ring is The Advocate’s senior politics editor and copy chief. She has been a reporter and editor for daily newspapers and LGBTQ+ weeklies/monthlies, trade magazines, and reference books. She is a political junkie who thinks even the wonkiest details are fascinating, and she always loves to see political candidates who are groundbreaking in some way. She enjoys writing about other topics as well, including religion (she’s interested in what people believe and why), literature, theater, and film. Trudy is a proud “old movie weirdo” and loves the Hollywood films of the 1930s and ’40s above all others. Other interests include classic rock music (Bruce Springsteen rules!) and history. Oh, and she was a Jeopardy! contestant back in 1998 and won two games. Not up there with Amy Schneider, but Trudy still takes pride in this achievement.

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Trudy Ring

June 04 2019 3:40 PM EST

May 31 2023 7:21 PM EST

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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."