Janelle Irwin Taylor
St. Petersburg City Council candidate Chico Cromartie’s Facebook feed is rife with anti-LGBTQ statements and pro-Donald Trump rhetoric, including defenses of the President’s racist tweets shared more than a week ago.
The hateful sentiments were first called out in a Tampa Bay Times article noting Cromartie believed St. Pete officials were favoring the LGBTQ community at the cost of affordable housing and economic development in poor areas.
“Homosexuality is a choice no American should make and no nation (in the history of the world) has ever prospered defending or promoting such activity,” Cromartie wrote on July 8.
“I will always speak out against homosexuality and my policies will never encourage or promote such activity!”
It’s widely accepted among scientists that being gay is not a choice. Numerous studies, some of which are documented in a 2015 article in Time debunking former Presidential candidate Ben Carson’s claim that it was a choice, have shown that various factors in a person’s brain or even the hormone levels in the womb contribute to sexual orientation.
Cromartie’s feelings instead seem to be linked with the idea of ‘us vs. them,’ plainly ignoring the fact that black people can be gay too.
“As a policy maker I will create economically fair and sustainable policies that will not favor ideologies, groups or peculiar perspectives. In particular, those that are represented by anti-American flags or special interests’ groups! I will not implement or support any policy that implies or economically favors homosexuality, a group or any ideology based solely on a person’s choice to be homosexual and/or anti-American,” Cromartie wrote on July 11.
In another post dated July 8, Cromartie implied he had been receiving “insidious” comments from “homosexuals” and claimed the LGBTQ community is “vicious, hateful and intolerant.”
It’s not clear what comments he was referencing.
The post went on to describe “a dominant homosexual city administration” where “jobs, business incentives and affordable housing have been restricted to their most loyal supporters.”
“Now south St. Pete residents who have been paying extra taxes for years into a program (CRA) that is suppose to address their economic needs, can’t afford to live in the poorest districts in the city! This is the true character of the homosexual agenda,” Cromartie wrote.
Cromartie’s social media presence also shows a fierce devotion to Trump. His Facebook feed includes numerous articles and videos supporting the President.
One links to a website where Trump supporters could get a free “MAGA” hat with the purchase of a matching t-shirt. He also shared a photo from the Pinellas GOP Lincoln Day Dinner, the group’s biggest annual fundraiser, with the caption “Keeping America Great one day at a time,” a reference to Trump’s reelection campaign slogan.
Cromartie further went on to support Trump’s tweets more than a week ago suggesting that four women of color in Congress should go back to the countries from which they came and “fix them.”
“Those Congress women should go back to their countries and fix that mess, instead of trying to ruin this country with false claims of racism, sexism, bigotry, ect,” he wrote above an MSN article naming 29 members of Congress born outside the U.S.
Cromartie went on to ask “how in the hell did all these foreign nationals get in the U.S. Congress anyway?”
The answer to his inquiry is simple. As it relates to “the squad” of four Democratic women in Congress including Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ayanna Pressley, Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib, three of them are natural born United States citizens. Omar was born in Somalia, but immigrated to the U.S. as a child refugee and was naturalized when she was 17. As for other members, they are all either naturalized citizens or were born outside of the U.S. to American parents.
St. Pete suffers from a “dominant homosexual city administration,” he says.
The constitution prohibits non-citizens from serving in Congress.
Cromartie also voiced support for Trump’s contempt against sports stars who peacefully protest by taking a knee during the National Anthem.
“If you got a problem with the United States and the flag that represents it…………..LEAVE!!!!” he wrote on July 19 on a post showing photos of a pride flag burning, Megan Rapinoe and Colin Kaepernick taking a knee during the national anthem and a photo of “the squad.”
While Cromartie’s anti-LGBTQ and pro-Trump rhetoric is likely to cost him support in the City Council election, his Facebook feed also highlights issues important to District 7, which is rife with poverty. One of his top campaign priorities is affordable housing and includes caps on rents to residents aren’t priced out of their communities as the city “gentrifies” neighborhoods.
He also pledges incentives for education and business development and investment in energy and public safety. In an odd campaign priority, Cromartie also wrote that he supports creating monorail transportation.
Cromartie demands support in many of his Facebook posts, which make harsh claims that he’s the only person who can save them from losing their homes.
“Guess who has to make plans to relocate if I fail to make the general election? YOU DO!” he wrote on July 20.
Cromartie is one of four candidates in the District 7 race, which includes incumbent Lisa Wheeler-Bowman, Uhuru candidate Eritha “Akile” Cainion and recent college graduate Sarah Elizabeth Moore.
The four will appear on the Aug. 27 primary ballot. The top two voter-getters will face off in the Nov. 5 general election.
8 comments
Ray Blacklidge
July 23, 2019 at 2:05 pm
Prejudice against any group of people is unacceptable. We all should be treated equally fair, LGBTQ, Republican, Democrat, Black, White, Hispanic, Asian, Trump supporters, Libertarians…, we should love everyone as we would want them to love us. It’s one thing to fight for fairness, it’s another thing all together to not accept everyone’s right to have a difference of opinion.
gary
July 23, 2019 at 2:20 pm
@Ray Blacklidge
Why? In a country with a Bill Of Rights and Constitution like ours, we have the liberty to disagree. I don’t expect Democrat supporters to love Trump supports, in fact, I know they do not because my Trump stickered vehicles have been vandalized by anti Trump people. I do not like most Democrat politicians, but I still have friends that are Democrats.
I support Chico Cromartie right to say and expose his beliefs just Omar and the squad can rant their hate for America. I don’t see how Chico is anything but the inverse of the AOC plus 3.
On another point, our fine city of St.Pete that I have been a resident of since 1974 has come a long way. We are one of the most WOKE city is America now. We have accomplished this with mostly liberal leadership over the last 15 years. It’s time that an opposing voice step in to perhaps rebalance the scale just a little.
Ray Blacklidge
July 23, 2019 at 2:37 pm
@gary
Disagreeing is acceptable. However we must not stereotype any group of people and give them a disadvantage or advantage that isn’t deserved on personal individual effort. We need multiple view points to make us stronger and more likely to come up with the proper direction. I agree with you. St. Petersburg has not prioritized the spending of taxpayers money and have been way to liberal with spending. Instead of silly bike lanes where no bikes travel and the cars that do travel those streets are now made dangerous and jammed with traffic. The City’s waste water system has needed attention for years and yet it’s ignored and frivolous spending is made instead.
Steve Davidson
July 23, 2019 at 4:27 pm
I feel sorry for Chico. He has so obviously made himself into an Uncle Tom, and is filled with hate towards people of color and LGBTQ. I suspect he is a closet case and a self-hating African-American. The dude ought to read Eldridge Cleaver’s “Soul On Ice” and get a clue.
Erik
July 29, 2019 at 3:36 pm
Steve please read the book Uncle Tom… and you’ll find out who Uncle Tom really was.
Ray Blacklidge
July 23, 2019 at 4:59 pm
It’s not just me…Pinellas GOP condemns St. Pete Council candidate Chico Cromartie’s anti-LGBTQ statements Written By Janelle Irwin Taylor
The Republican Party of Pinellas County is condemning anti-LGBTQ statements made by a Republican St. Petersburg City Council candidate.
Party Chair Todd Jennings reacted to news that District 7 candidate Chico Cromartie believes sexual orientation is a choice and doesn’t want city resources used for LGBTQ-related services or activities.
“I wholeheartedly condemn Mr. Cromartie’s rhetoric,” Jennings wrote in an email to Florida Politics, responding to a story earlier Tuesday.
“It is not emblematic of my values or the values of the Republican Party. The Republican Party believes in being the party of opportunity, and providing all Americans, regardless of race, gender or sexual orientation, with the opportunity to live the American dream and fulfill the pursuit of happiness, no matter what form that may take.
Jennings called on Cromartie to apologize for his statements and “end his fruitless campaign.”“Mr. Cromartie’s disappointing statements clearly run contrary to these principles. Mr. Cromartie, although a registered Republican, is running in a non-partisan race, and the Pinellas GOP has neither supported nor endorsed his candidacy,” Jennings continued.
Cromartie is not leaving the race, nor will he apologize.
“I represent the people in this community and the American people. I don’t represent a party per se,” Cromartie said. “The party is entitled to their views and I’m fine with that. I disagree with homosexuality and I always will.”
Cromartie lamented the blowback following media reports on his anti-LGBTQ views. He said Americans have the right to disagree and his views should be able to be freely shared.
Cromartie made several references to LGBTQ issues in a series of Facebook posts spanning several weeks.Among his claims, Cromartie wrote that the city of St. Pete was disproportionately aiding the LGBTQ community, what he describes as “homosexuals” and not a community, at the detriment of the mostly-black District 7 community in South St. Pete.
Asked to expand on what he meant by that, Cromartie said his comments were based on statements from neighbors lamenting similar concerns.
“If you want to classify homosexuality as a community for the sake of this argument, I will. The African American community are the only ones going to City Council about economic deprivation. I don’t see the LGBT community sharing those same problems,” Cromartie said.
Cromartie further explained that his policies would positively impact all St. Pete residents including the LGBTQ community.
“My policies reflect the concerns and needs of everyone. They don’t discriminate against homosexuals,” Cromartie said. “What they do in their bedroom is really none of my concern. I just disagree with it and I always will.”
Cromartie also said he disagrees with scientific studies finding sexual orientation is not a choice.
William Hamilton
July 28, 2019 at 12:15 pm
I guess he wasn’t in St. Petersburg in 1962 when he would have had to drink from a “Colored” water fountain and be refused service in any business that chose to do so. You can say “I disagree with homosexuality and I always will.” Remember this, there are a lot of people who will say “I disagree with Rights for Black people and I always will.” You should know Black history and the support that the LGBTQ community has always provided in the Black struggle for equality.
Erik
July 31, 2019 at 1:08 pm
Then Mr.Hamilton who were these leaders of the LGBTQ Community in 1962 that provided support for the Black struggle for equality ?
Comments are closed.