Rep. Larry Lockman (R-Amherst) is becoming a legend in Maine, and has now added another outrage to his long list of such accomplishments. In a Twitter exchange with yours truly last evening, Lockman wrote that that transgender people are playing “let’s pretend” and that they are “mentally ill.” WMTW-TV had this report this evening:
www.wmtw.com/…
Lockman was complaining that new regulations in New York City were an infringement on free speech rights. The regulations provide strong protections for the city's transgender and gender non-conforming communities in housing, employment and public spaces, with possible fines for violations. I joined a thread between Lockman and University of Maine Professor Amy Fried here.
And like any true bully, Lockman ran away when he was confronted with his own words.
Lockman has a long history of Islamophobic tweeting. Here he complaining that a Subway store in a predominantly Muslim neighborhood in England has stopped serving pork products. In fact, some 200 Subway stores in the UK abide by Halal restrictions — sounds like good marketing to me. Lockman had no response when asked about a Kosher Dunkin Donuts in New York.
Mike Tipping has a compilation of some of Lockman’s more egregious statements. Regarding AIDS, Lockmand — a born-again Christian - said, “In the overwhelming majority of cases, people are dying because of their addiction to sodomy.”
And it's hard to even fathom how Lockman could justify this comment, “If a woman has [the right to abortion], why shouldn’t a man be free to use his superior strength to force himself on a woman? At least the rapist’s pursuit of sexual freedom doesn’t (in most cases) result in anyone’s death.”
But what do you expect from a man who, in his official biography for the Maine Legislature, talks first about his “long walks along the Union River with his German short-haired pointer Job” before he mentions his wife of 43 years?