GOP Congressman: Straights Deserve “Special” Rights Because Gay Marriage Threatens Nation

Republican Congressman Trent Franks of Arizona says that straight marriages deserve “special” rights, and says that gay marriage a “threat to the nation’s survival.” In a radio interview with SPLC-certified hate group president Tony Perkins of the Family Research Association, Franks, a “birther” and climate change denier who said he would “absolutely…support” the impeachment of president Obama over the DOJ’s refusal to defend DOMA in court, appeared with Perkins to discuss this week’s House hearing on “The State of Religious Liberty in the United States.”

Audio and transcript courtesy of Brian Tashman at Right Wing Watch.

We understand that when we’re granting the rights of marriage, that that’s a special right Tony, that’s something we have suggested is clearly the best possible way to see children raised through the best possible environment to launch the next generation, we believe that with all of our hearts as a society, I think most people understand that. So we’ve set aside this special area of the law that says we’re going to respect traditional marriage of a man and a woman because that is the launching pad of the next generation. Let’s face it; we have made a special exception in the law that gives special consideration and recognition to that.

And when people would come along and blur that distinction and say ‘well that should apply in every way’ it not only is a complete undermining of the principles of family and marriage and the hope of future generations but it completely begins to see our society break down to the extent that that foundational unit of the family that is the hope of survival of this country is diminished to the extent that it literally is a threat to the nation’s survival in the long run.

Back in April, Congressman Franks chaired a ludicrous “hearing” on DOMA which included just three people:  two anti-​equality activists and one pro-​equality advocate – then-National Organization for Marriage Chair Maggie Gallagher, ultra-​conservative blogger and traditional-​marriage advocate Ed Whelan, and Rutgers School of Law Professor Carlos Ball. Ball is the author of Closet to the Courtroom: Five LGBT Lawsuits That Have Changed Our Nation, and a marriage equality advocate.

WATCH: DOMA: House “Defending Marriage” Hearing’s Lies And Ignorance