SC Mayor Spews Anti-Gay Rhetoric in Facebook Post

The mayor of West Union, S.C., a small town of about 300, is making waves this week after making controversial remarks about marriage equality in a Facebook posting, Fox Carolina reports.

Mayor Linda Oliver took to Facebook to respond to the recent decision of Buncombe County, N.C., to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples and said "I don't want it rammed down my throat" and used the word "queer" in a derogatory way a number of times. The post has been deleted, however, but Towleroad has her statement:

"What's it gonna take to get these queers to realize they don't need a piece of paper," she wrote. "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."

Fox Carolina reports that a number of Facebook users were offended by Oliver's remarks and responded.

"She deleted her original comments because she has no backbone," one person allegedly wrote.

But Oliver is ready for the backlash and told Fox Carolina: "I have apologized, it's on there if people would just read the feed. They're focusing on the word and I apologized for that. If people would read the whole thing they'll see that I plainly said I will not say that anymore, I'll say homosexual.

"What I'm emotional about is because my feelings- the way I feel toward homosexuals is how I've been brought up," she added.

"All I can say is if people want to crucify me, that's fine. I know that following Jesus, I'm going to be crucified," Oliver said.

There is now a Facebook group called "Recall West Union S.C. Mayor Linda Oliver," which currently has 113 likes.