Senator: “We’re allowing gays to exist” (Updated With Audio)

Pennsylvania Republican Wants Constitution Amended

State Senator John Eichelberger, who has introduced a bill that would amend the Pennsylvania constitution to define marriage as being between only a woman and a man, told local radio station WHYY today that gays are “… not being punished. We’re allowing them to exist, and do what every American can do.  We’re just not rewarding them with any special designation.”

Keystone Progress, a Pennsylvania “multi-issue progressive advocacy organization,” immediately created a petition demanding an apology. They list the exchange on the radio, between Senator Eichelberger and his opponent, Daylin Leach, a Democratic Senator who has introduced a gay marriage bill, as follows:

21:15
Leach:   How would he [Eichelberger] want to encourage stability in gay couples?

Eichelberger: I wouldn’t.  I mean they can practice whatever sexual activity they like to practice, but there’s no reason to give them special consideration.  We don’t give them special consideration in Pennsylvania for any reason.  Why in the world would we allow them to marry?

22:05
Leach:  How would he want to encourage stability in gay couples?

Eichelberger:  There is no reason to encourage that type of behavior in Pennsylvania.

24:20
Eichelberger:  That comes back to the definition of family and that’s where we differ.  We can call all kinds of things families.  I mean, we can say a 3 party marriage is a family, or 7 or 8 people or marrying younger and younger children these days .

25:00
Host:  Are you saying that by their very nature homosexual relationships are dysfunctional?

Eichelberger:  [Pause] Ummmm.  I guess I would say that.  I would say that.

38:50
Eichelberger:  This changes the definition of marriage, allowing same-sex, and then like I said, 5-10 years from now it’ll be polygamy, marrying younger people, it’ll be whatever…It won’t be a 6 year old, it’ll be a 15 year old, then it’ll be a 14 year old, then it’ll be a 13 year old.

49:40
Leach:  Should our only policy towards [same-sex] couples be one of punishment, to somehow prove that they’ve done something wrong?

Eichelberger: They’re not being punished. We’re allowing them to exist, and do what every American can do.  We’re just not rewarding them with any special designation.