The chairman of the Albany County Legislature is calling for the resignation of one of its members after homophobic comments he made in a public forum were posted in an online video.
Chairman Andrew Joyce, in a statement Wednesday, said Legislator George Langdon should resign and apologize for saying, in a video shared on Facebook, that "when you have homosexual relationships, it's not perpetual. Give them an island; they'll be gone after 40 years."
Langdon, according to the description in the original YouTube video, was speaking at a "Return to Liberty Under the Constitution Seminar" in Voorheesville on Saturday when he made the comments.
“It pains me to even remotely amplify the disgusting comments spewed out by Albany County Legislator George Langdon. Listening to someone laughingly share an ugly, nightmarish scenario of our loved ones being 'gone after 40 years' shakes us all to our core, not only as public servants, but as human beings," said Joyce, a Democrat, in a statement.
"Albany County Legislator George Langdon is unfit to serve. I call on him to apologize and resign. Not for 40 years, but forever.”
County Executive Dan McCoy also weighed in, saying Langdon's comments are "wildly homophobic and hurtful," and calling for an apology to the LGBTQIA+ community and Albany County residents.
It has recently come to our attention that Albany County Legislator George Langdon made comments about the LGBTQ+ community, which do no reflect the values of the Legislature. Chairman @JoyceForAlbany has released the following statement regarding the situation. ⤵️ pic.twitter.com/WpTtOU7ycE
— Albany County Leg. (@AlbanyNYLeg) March 31, 2021
Langdon represents District 37, covering the town of Coeymans, on the legislature. The Republican is in his first term. Spectrum News has reached out to Langdon for comment.