In an interview on yesterday’s Fox News Sunday, host Chris Wallace pressed flailing Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum about his position that the now-extinct “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy ought to be reinstated. The remarks Santorum made raising the horrifying specter of gay soldiers showering with other soldiers (*GASP!*) received all the media attention, but what seems to have thus far escaped notice is that he also cited discredited and dangerous “ex-gay” propaganda as a reason he believes that LGBT Americans, unlike African Americans, do not deserve their civil rights (for clarity’s sake, I’ve removed most of the sputters):
I mean, we’re talking about people who are simply different because of the color of their skin, not because of activities that would cause problems for people living in those, quote, ‘close quarters…’ I know the whole gay community is trying to make this the new Civil Rights Act — it’s not. It’s not the same. You are black by the color of your skin. You are not homosexual, necessarily, obviously, by the color of your skin… the idea that somehow or another that this is the equivalent, that being black and being gay is the same, is simply not true. There are all sorts of studies out there that suggest just the contrary. And there are people who were gay, and lived the gay lifestyle, and aren’t anymore. I don’t know if that’s the similar situation — I don’t think that’s the case with anybody that’s black. So it’s not the same and I know people try to make it the same, but it is not. It is behavioral issue as opposed to a color of the skin issue, and that makes it [sic] all of the difference when it comes to serving in the military.
Santorum clearly suffers from a chronic case of the Gay Hysteria — he’s obsessed with gay people, gay sexual activities, gay soldiers in the shower, gay people having gay sex… in fact, he brings up gay topics with a frequency approaching the level of compulsion (take note, Karen). The former senator is so fixated on gay sexual acts that he is apparently unable to discuss gay people without talking about them in flagrante delicto. In fact, I’d be interested (horrified?) to know just how much time Rick Santorum spends thinking about gay sex.
Oh and yeah, by the way, the whole “there are people who were gay… and aren’t anymore” thing? Pretty sure nobody agrees with you, Rick. It’s not possible to change from gay to straight and you can’t pray away the gay, so you’re going to have to be a little more creative the next time you go fishing for reasons to justify your bigotry. Thanks for playing.
Video of the sputtering Santorum here, courtesy of HuffPost Politics:
Uh, no one ever changed their skin color? Last time I checked, Micheal Jackson died white…
Is it just me or is there a bit of racism in his words. First of all Afican-American aren’t the only race of people in this country and second he makes it sounds if people could change the color of thier skin they should. Now that DADT is gone why does Santorum and his ilk act as if there were no gay people in military until now the only thing that has changed is gays can serve openly and the can’t be denied entry because of thier orientation.
OK, let’s pretend like shrill anti-gay activist Santorum is correct and being gay is just a “behavior” and we shouldn’t protect it. What does he think Catholicism is? Or Mormonism? Or Protestantism? They are behaviors and can also be changed, yet we protect them as civil rights. So, no matter which argument he uses, he’s still wrong!
I always thought santorum had an air of ‘closet case’ about him. And the more he obsesses over gays, the more I think he probably belongs to the ‘wide stance’ club. How long before some cute young guy is needed to ‘lift his luggage’?
Lord, what a dumb mother-f****r. The definition of African-American makes no mention of skin color. Now apparently he wants to pretend that blackness begins when one’s skin is darker than … What? I don’t know. And neither does he. Because he’s an idiot.
As a historical aside (AKA other things Frothy Doesn’t Know): African-American enlistees & draftees were once subjected to a comb test. That is, after they wet and allowed their hair to dry naturally, those who could get a comb through their hair without difficulty were deemed less black than those who couldn’t.
During WWII it might mean the difference between becoming one of the Tuskegee Airmen and becoming a cook. And I’d bet my last dollar that there were soldiers who passed as white but didn’t dare show anyone pictures of their family members and never invited their buddies to meet the family. (Hmmm, sound familiar?)
Yes, I’m not sure what I’m ranting about here either. Other than the fact that by attempting to prove there’s a difference between race-based bigotry and orientation-based bigotry Boxer Stain Santorum proves the similarities.
Once again, Mr. Santorum lives up to the meaning of his name….Thank you Dan Savage!
Hunger, regarding the comb test – very interesting.
None of that blather makes any sense. It’s a total mishmash. Who ever said that being black and being gay are the same thing? We find equivalence in the discrimination for human characteristics that are part and parcel of the person. Once again he talks about activities when it is orientation that faces the discrimination. The military simply assumed that being gay meant sexual activity. It doesn’t, you know. I would also like to point out that the “all sorts of studies out there that SUGGEST” thing is code for nonsense and for fools to soak up. We all also know that many a “straight” people, some for the majority of their lives, aren’t anymore simply because the faced up to their real orientation instead of fighting to be what this man says is the only way to be acceptable. Screw him and his ilk.
Thank you Gianni!
The point isn’t comparing ATTRIBUTES, but comparing the injustice of discrimination for having ONE distinguishing feature USED to do so.
That’s it.
A person will still be gay, regardless of having an active sex life or not. Same as a hetero.
That the issue turns people like Santorum into blathering idiots is a very serious thing to examine.
He can’t articulate how unfair it is, for an exemplary soldier to suffer from discrimination for their orientation, any more than one would for their color or gender.
If the only thing that distinguishes a gay soldier from a straight one, is KNOWING if that soldier is gay, than the COMPORTMENT of that gay soldier has been in accordance with military standards.
And there are plenty of straight men, soldiers or not, who he insults.
Just because Santorum is a pussy pants little coward who wouldn’t want to serve with some gay, doesn’t mean OTHER straight soldiers feel that way or should.
I have been on countless tours, I’m a gym rat and the performing arts venues I’ve worked in were all similar situations of sharing showers and locker facilities with women of all kinds of backgrounds.
And besides, I have very close friendships with lesbians who I feel blessed to know and love.
So Santorum’s attitude that I should get the vapors if a lesbian sees me naked (and vice versa is possible), is a symptom of his paranoia.
I’m just not that preoccupied and don’t care. And for all the fears of lesbians other homophobic straight women have expressed makes me really want to laugh.
I’ve never, EVER had the experience they so fear and I’m the most likely, unlike them, to have it occur if it were going to.
Panicked soldiers are bad for military readiness. Gay panicked soldiers, even more so.
From the beginnings of time, gays have served, fought and showered in the military with their straight comrades and nobody gave it a thought.
In my high school and college P.E. classes, we all showered together and nobody gave it a thought. In high school swimming class many years ago, we swam in the nude, including the teacher. Nobody gave it a thought. In my YMCA at that time, swimming was also segregated and the men swam nude. Nobody gave it a thought. In my two years in the army, we all showered together and nobody gave it a thought. I wasn’t out, but most of the guys knew I was gay. And there were plenty of gays who were obvious, but didn’t talk about it. .
Later when teaching in a junior high school, I was the B team swimming coach, showered with the boys and nobody gave it a thought.
SO, Santorum, Perry, Bachmann and all the other bigots, what’s your problem with us? It’s YOUR OWN closeted, self-loathing colleagues who hire “luggage carriers,” “buy meth” from a male masseur,” proposition an undercover cop in an airport restroom, etc., etc., who give us all a bad name. No self-respecting out gay man would do such stupid things. Wake up and smell the roses.
Jerry
[...] soldiers as a reason to reinstate the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy and publicly embraced “ex-gay” [...]
No one changes their skin color? Over in India, the outdated myth that white is best is still believed and they even have products to whiten one’s skin. I’m not kidding. I’m half Indian, and some of the actors are whiter than me!
Also, in our armed forces gays have been serving for years. I’ve never understood this inane b******t these idiots say about the horror of serving with gay people. How about we ask the people in the armed services to have a say. These politicians couldn’t get past the initial training let alone serve and actually fight for their country.
And everyone knows Ex-Gay therapy is nothing but prejudiced b******t dressed up as “science” but follows none of actual scientific rules. In other words, it doesn’t hold up to actual scientific scrutiny. If you excuse me, I think I’m going to listen to people who actually study this for a living ie the experts on the subject. Crazy I know. But I guess I’m just weird that way.
[...] to Weinstein, Ryan, et al: consider using the American Catholic bishops and Rick Santorum as test subjects for this future study. I have a sneaking suspicion that your findings will hold up [...]