Rick Santorum was slammed by top Fox New anchor Chris Wallace Sunday about his position on gays in the military. Wallace read Santorum a quote from an Army Colonel in 1941 referring to African-Americans in the military, applying it to gays in the military, and Santorum fell for the bait-and-switch. Later, Santorum made the stupefying attempt to say that blacks are black because of the color of their skin, but homosexuality is a behavior.
“We’re talking about people who are simply different because of the color of their skin, not because of activities that would cause problems with people living in close quarters,” Santorum said. I’m sure that blacks in the military are thrilled to know that their risking their lives to protect a politician who thinks they’re “different.” As if Santorum is the norm.
Santorum added, “I know the whole gay community is trying to make this the new civil rights act — it’s not. It’s not the same.” Well, as the name of this site proves, yes, it is.
“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 other 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, I don’t think that’s the case with any body who’s black. So it’s not the same… it is behavioral issue as opposed to color of the skin issue.”
Zack Ford at Think Progress adds this:
Santorum is wrong on so many counts:
- The extensive Pentagon study found that servicemembers don’t care about serving next to gay soldiers, so unit cohesion would not be impacted.
- Sexual orientation is not defined by behaviors, but as an enduring biological identity that cannot be changed.
- Attempts to change sexual orientation are ineffective and cause harm, and even studies by proponents of ex-gay therapy have shown it doesn’t work.
Santorum’s comments make clear that his only concern is keeping homophobic soldiers fleeing the military, because “they’re in close quarters, they live with people, they obviously shower with people.â€Â Perhaps Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA) offered the best response to this narrow line of thinking when he said, “Of course people shower with homosexuals. What a silly issue.â€
I would add that Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell has been legally repealed. There are 66,000 lesbian, gay, and bisexual service members serving in our nation’s armed forces around the globe. If the next president would like to try to put the genie back in the bottle, he or she had better be prepared for a huge coming out — and quitting party.
I’d like to see the numbers of all the anti-gay homophobic soldiers who are quitting their jobs in the military because the guy they already knew was gay turned out to be gay.
Last year, Dan Choi made a great point: How incredibly disrespectful to tell America that their soldiers are quitters.
Finally, what if being gay were a choice? So what? I’m pretty sure — like 1000% it’s not — but since there’s nothing wrong with being gay, who is some ignorant, bigoted, major-league failed former senator and fired Fox News contributor to criticize us?