“Tin Ear Wing” of GOP Strikes Again
Listed in: Other Domestic Policy, NJDC News, Press Releases
Washington, DC: According to today?s edition of The Washington Post, "Gay rights groups called yesterday for Senate Republicans to repudiate remarks by Sen. Rick Santorum (R-Pa.) comparing homosexuality to bigamy, polygamy, incest and adultery. Santorum made the remarks in an interview with the Associated Press about a Supreme Court case challenging the constitutionality of a Texas law against sodomy. 'If the Supreme Court says that you have the right to consensual [gay] sex within your home, then you have the right to bigamy, you have the right to polygamy, you have the right to incest, you have the right to adultery. You have the right to anything,' Santorum said, according to the AP. Santorum spokeswoman Erica Clayton Wright said the quote was accurate 'only in the context related specifically to the right to privacy in the Supreme Court case.' The senator, she said, 'has no problem with gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender individuals.'"
"Once again the Republican Party has demonstrated -- courtesy of their 'tin ear wing' -- that they just don't get it," said National Jewish Democratic Council Executive Director Ira N. Forman. "Senator Santorum's comments feed bigotry everywhere among those who reflexively hate gays and lesbians, and no amount of backpedaling and 'clarifying' from his staff can prevent this. Homosexuals in America have a right to privacy in their homes, just as Senator Santorum has -- and he should know that.
"What's surprising is that Senator Santorum -- in the wake of the controversies surrounding statements by Senator Trent Lott (R-MS) and Representative James Moran (D-VA) -- would let himself make such thick-headed statements, regardless of what his true beliefs are. We can only hope -- improbably -- that the GOP will descend upon Senator Santorum with criticism for his comments, as Democrats have rightly condemned the recent comments of Representative Moran and stripped him of leadership positions. If Republicans don't condemn Senator Santorum, one thing will remain clear: when it comes to the sensitivities and rights of America's minorities, the GOP still doesn't get it," Forman added.
