'Thank God Nazis Shot Gays' Tweets Latvian MP -- Before Resigning

Winnie McCroy READ TIME: 2 MIN.

A Latvian lawmaker was forced to resign her position after her scandalous comments about gays posted on Twitter.

RT.com reports Latvian's Inga Priede crossed the line in her online debate with fellow Unity Party members on legalizing same-sex partnerships with some incendiary tweets. The issue of gay rights is the latest news in since the public "coming out" of Foreign Minister Edgars Rink?vi?s and a similar move by UK's Charge d'Affaires in Riga, Iain Frew.

But Priede said Latvian countryfolk were "in shock" after learning about the possible legislation, adding that even gay country folks "are not proud" of their sexual orientation "because they are basic values."

Priede didn't stop there, though. She had to bring Hitler into the mix, because of course, why wouldn't she?

"Thanks God! The Germans shot them in their time. Was good for demographics," tweeted Priede, referring to the SS wide extermination campaign of all people deemed unfit, including gays.

Although she quickly deleted her original tweets and made up some cockamamie story about how she was misunderstood and hadn't intended to insult anyone and how everyone should "adhere to Christian values," (values like genocide, apparently), the damage was done.

"Such statements are absolutely unacceptable. And her later attempts to say she didn't write these criminal things or that she had been misunderstood prove that Ms. Priede is not a brave person and does not take responsibility for her words," said member of parliament Ilze Vi??ele, a former Latvian social minister, as cited by Mig news website.

Unity Party Chair Solvita ?bolti?a and some other leadership members said the statements were against the party's position on the issue and that the issue would be considered at a leadership meeting as soon as possible.

On Tuesday, Priede resigned her position in the party leadership and apologized. But several threats of criminal prosecution made by her critics may call for more than just an apology.

The New York Observer noted that Priede may not be alone in her sentiment. Despite Latvia's painful past, including a wide-spread network of extermination camps on its territory during WWII, where more than 70,000 Latvian Jews, 2,000 Gypsies and an unknown number of homosexuals perished in the Holocaust with the help from Latvian collaborators, the country still holds a parade every year on March 16, where former veterans of the Latvian Waffen-SS proudly parade on the streets of Riga, Latvia's capital.


by Winnie McCroy , EDGE Editor

Winnie McCroy is the Women on the EDGE Editor, HIV/Health Editor, and Assistant Entertainment Editor for EDGE Media Network, handling all women's news, HIV health stories and theater reviews throughout the U.S. She has contributed to other publications, including The Village Voice, Gay City News, Chelsea Now and The Advocate, and lives in Brooklyn, New York.

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