Revealed: Even Anti-Gay Richard Nixon Said Gay People Are ‘Born That Way’ Four Decades Ago

In secret recordings just revealed for the first time, President Richard Nixon, while very anti-gay, said that he believed gay people are “born that way.”

In a few ways, at least compared to today’s radical right wing religion-infused Republicans, Richard Nixon, while a disaster for the country’s spirit, was slightly enlightened on some issues. After all, he created the EPA — which the GOP is trying to kill. And, while being strongly anti-gay, at least he realized that gay people are “born that way,” as he said in a just released secret recording made on April 28, 1971.

The tapes, published online by Vanity Fair, were made as the President was nearing the end of his first term. In the recording, Nixon can be heard speaking clearly, saying, “before we get off the gay thing. I don’t want my views misunderstood. I am the most tolerant person on that of anybody in this shop. They have a problem. They’re born that way. You know that. That’s all. I think they are.”

The 37th President of the United States, speaking in the Oval Office with national-security adviser Henry Kissinger, Chief of Staff Bob Haldeman, and chief domestic aide John Ehrlichman, continues.

“Anyway, my point is, though, when I say they’re born that way, the tendency is there. [But] my point is that Boy Scout leaders, YMCA leaders, and others bring them in that direction, and teachers. And if you look over the history of societies, you will find, of course, that some of the highly intelligent people . . . Oscar Wilde, Aristotle, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera, were all homosexuals. Nero, of course, was, in a public way, in with a boy in Rome.”

And, as if to prove he’s anti-gay, Nixon adds, “By God, I am not going to have a situation where we pass along a law indicating, “Well, now, kids, just go out and be gay.” They can do it. Just leave them alone. That’s a lifestyle I don’t want to touch. . . .”

Last year, as The New Civil Rights Movement reported, other secret Nixon tapes were released, including one in which Nixon complained that the popular CBS TV series “All in the Family” glorified homosexuality. In that tape he calls Aristotle a “homo,” and adds, “so was Socrates.” 

You can hear the tapes at Vanity Fair.

 

Image by the CIA via Wikimedia