Transgender People Called 'Demons,' 'Imps,' 'Mutants' By FL Lawmaker

FLORIDA — A Republican lawmaker in Florida compared transgender people to "demons," "imps" and "mutants."

State Rep. Webster Barnaby (R-Deltona) made the offensive comments during Monday's House Commerce Committee meeting, where the committee passed HB 1521, referring the proposed law to the full Florida House of Representatives for consideration. If passed by the full state legislature, the bill would prevent transgender men and women from using bathrooms that don't align with the sex they were assigned at birth.

Barnaby compared the transgender community to "'X-Men' movies and Marvel comics," in a video shared by Equality Florida, an LGBTQ+ advocacy group. (Watch the full video below.)

"It's like we have mutants living among us on planet Earth," he said.

He added, "We have people that live among us today on planet Earth that are happy to display themselves as if they were mutants from another planet. This is the planet Earth where God created men, male, and women, female."

The lawmaker also touted himself as "a proud Christian, conservative Republican."

"I'm not on the fence," Barnaby said. "There is so much darkness in our world today, so much evil in our world today and so many people who are afraid to address the evil, the dysphoria, the dysfunction."

Barnaby continued, "The lord rebuke you, Satan, and all of your demons and all of your imps who parade before us. That's right, I call you demons and imps who parade before us and pretend that you are a part of this world. So, I'm saying my righteous indignation is stirred. I am sick and tired of this. I'm not going to put up with it. You can test me and try to take me on, but I promise you I will win every time. Let's all vote up this bill."

Barnaby later apologized for the comments, according to NBC News.

“I would like to apologize to the trans community for referring to you as ‘demons,’” he said.

Equality Florida lambasted Barnaby for his “abuse” of transgender people.

“Today, parents and children, many of whom traveled hours to share their stories, had to listen to GOP State Representative Barnaby slander the transgender community from the dais. And Republican leadership in the room refused to put a stop to it,” the organization said in a statement. “This hideous bigotry has always been at the root of the wave of anti-LGBTQ hysteria sweeping our state. The agenda of (Gov. Ron) DeSantis and his legislative cronies has always been aimed at empowering this brand of bigotry and dehumanizing the LGBTQ community. Shame on Rep. Barnaby for spewing his transphobic vitriol. And shame on Chair (Bob) Rommel for sitting idly by and allowing it to happen.”

Watch Barnaby's comments, shared by Equality Florida, below: