Gay Republican Dave Robinson, who is the Salt Lake County Republican Party's new communication director, told the Salt Lake Tribune editorial board that he believes the high rate of suicide among LGBTQ youth is because gay men have too many sex partners.
Said Robinson in his interview: “I said, you can own your own business, you can run for office — I don't think there's a better time on this planet in history to be gay than right now…So then I walked through and I said, ‘I actually think it has more to do with the lifestyle that the gays are leading that they refuse to have any scrutiny with.”
Robinson then told the Tribune editors that he knows gay men who have had more than 2,000 sex partners which he blamed for the “self-loathing” in the community which can lead to suicide.
Added Robinson: “You talk to some of these people that have had grundles of sex partners and the self-loathing and basically the unhappiness and the self-hatred level is tremendously high. The gay community really needs to start having some conversations within their community, saying how is our lifestyle affecting our mental health.”
Robinson also reportedly denounced preventative HIV meds like PrEP and said it was causing gay men to fornicate like “bunny rabbits” at “sex parties,” according to reports.
The Utah GOP is now considering whether to fire Robinson.
Said Equality Utah Executive Director Troy Williams in a statement: “Condemning who and how we love is a strange way to build a bridge between the Republican Party and the LGBTQ community. Mr. Robinson's rhetoric is deeply irresponsible and unbecoming of a leader in a political party in the state of Utah.”
The gay Republican group Log Cabin Republicans' Utah chapter distanced itself from Robinson, releasing a statement:
“Many of our members have suffered more than our fair share of loss due to suicide. This is a very serious subject. We have also seen a spike in STDs in many communities across the county, including the gay community. Both of these issues deserve to be discussed by as many people as possible, especially policymakers, in order to find real solutions and combat these challenges. This becomes extremely difficult when comments like these are made on these subjects and reported in a way that suggests any of us believe that underage young men are out at group sex parties, contracting diseases and then committing suicide over that situation. Any claim like this is ludicrous, by any individual, and seems an unlikely conclusion to be drawn by anyone with any education on either of these subjects. Neither Mr. Robinson nor the reporting paper should confuse these subjects. It causes great pains to every family who has lost someone, not to mention the damage it does to a dialog that is desperately needed by as many parties as possible. Speculation, without fact, should never be part of our discourse. Mr. Robinson's statements, no matter the context, were ill-chosen and do not represent the views of this organization and we are certain, do not reflect the views of the SL County GOP. But the need for community discourse about these issues is critical.”
Salt Lake County Republican Party chair Scott Miller, who was with Robinson at the interview in which he made the remarks, released an open letter on Thursday morning apologizing for Robinson's remarks:
To the fine citizens of Salt Lake County, the State of Utah and elsewhere,
On Tuesday August 22, 2018 an article was printed that was written by Taylor Stevens at The Salt Lake Tribune regarding statements made by Mr. Dave Robinson. I was in attendance at this meeting with the Editors where the intention was to introduce myself and the inclusive direction the Salt Lake County Republican Party is taking.
We spoke with the Editors for over an hour, discussing the many issues that face the residents of Salt Lake County. We discussed everything from land and water to suicide and transparency. My goal for this meeting was to convey my hope of inclusion for all communities within Salt Lake County.
During this meeting, the topic of the LGBTQ community arose in conversation and what that has to do with the Republican Party. Due to my personal experience regarding suicide, I made it very clear as a representative of the Salt Lake County Republican Party that I was very concerned about teen and adult suicides in Utah. Further, that we needed to address why the rates of suicide are several times greater in the LGBTQ community.
Dave Robinson, who is gay, told of conversations he has had with people from within the gay community. All of the opinions forwarded by Mr. Robinson were based on those conversations and were not necessarily his own views and were not presented as the position of the Salt Lake County Republican Party.
The subject of depression and suicide transcends all of our communities. I want to be very clear that the Salt Lake County Republican Party and our candidates do not agree that there is only one cause or solution to our local/national suicide concerns. We believe there are many factors surrounding these issues and we will continue to diligently seek solutions.
I apologize on behalf of the Salt Lake County Republican Party for any hurt or discomfort that this mischaracterization has caused. The tremendous outcry of both anger and support shows that these conversations are sorely needed.
Scott Miller
Chairman Salt Lake County Republican Party
