US Senator: Hey Gays, Get Some ‘Perspective’ – ‘In Iran They Hang You For The Crime Of Being Gay’

A U.S. Republican Senator has some words of wisdom for the LGBT community, whom he thinks need a bit of “perspective.”

Freshman Republican U.S. Senator from Arkansas, Tom Cotton, made headlines recently when he convinced 46 of his GOP colleagues to sign an open letter to the leaders of Iran, essentially denouncing President Barack Obama and his attempts to secure a nuclear deal. 

That of course ended disastrously for the GOP.

Now, Sen. Cotton is making headlines again, this time for telling gay people they’re lucky to be alive.

“I think it’s important we have a sense of perspective about our priorities,” Sen. Cotton told CNN’s Wolf Blitzer Wednesday. “In Iran, they hang you for the crime of being gay.”

Blitzer had asked Cotton his thoughts on his home state governor’s decision to turn back an anti-gay “religious freedom” bill.

The Arkansas Republican, who is 37 and has his J.D. from Harvard, was a captain in the Army, where he served for four years.

“They’re currently imprisoning an American preacher for spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ in Iran,” he noted. “We should focus on the most important priorities that our country faces right now.”

Think Progress, which first reported on the story, notes that “While Cotton is correct that LGBT people in America are not routinely executed, violence against LGBT Americans remains a significant problem.”

And in an Editor’s blog post titled “Really Stupid People,” Talking Points Memo publisher Josh Marshall called Cotton “a one-noter.”

 

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Image: Screenshot via YouTube