WEST UNION, S.C. — Officials in a small South Carolina mountain town say they’ve accepted the mayor’s apology for a Facebook rant that included gay slurs as she criticized same-sex couples for applying for marriage licenses in a nearby county.
In a news release from its attorney, the town council in West Union, S.C., said it accepted an apology from Mayor Linda Oliver, who had repeatedly used the word “queer” in a post last week objecting to the register of deeds in Buncombe County, N.C., for allowing gay couples to apply for marriage licenses.
“What’s it gonna take to get these queers to realize they don’t need a piece of paper. God will not bless their union because he plainly speaks against queers in the Bible. Want to cover your queer with insurance? Buy a policy. Want your queer to get your stuff when you die? Make a will,” Oliver wrote on Facebook (her remarks since deleted).
Oliver later told WHNS-TV she didn’t want same-sex marriage “rammed down my throat.”
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The council members, who met Friday, said Oliver apologized for offending people with her comments and also for the negative attention that her comments brought to the town.
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Oliver said she would use the word “homosexual” in the future.
“I did not realize at the time I made the comments how hurtful they were,” the news release quoted Oliver as telling the council. “I hope that those I’ve injured with my words understand that I did not intend to be offensive, and I beg them for forgiveness.”
West Union is a town of about 300 in rural Oconee County, S.C.
