Santorum Would Support Constitutional Amendment Outlawing Gay Marriage If Elected President

By Igor Volsky

During an appearance on CNN this evening, GOP presidential candidate and former Sen. Rick Santorum (R-PA) hinted that he would push for a federal constitutional amendment outlawing same-sex marriage if he were elected president, arguing that gay or lesbian relationships could destabilize the culture, rob children “of the potential of having a mom and a dad,” and undermine religious liberties:

SANTORUM: Once people realize the consequence to society of changing this definition, it’s not that we’re against anybody. People can live the life they want to live. They can do whatever they want to do in the privacy of their home with respect to that activity. Now you’re talking about changing the laws of the country. and it could have a profound impact on society, on faith, on education.Once people realize that, they say, you know what, we respect people’s life to live the life they want to lead but don’t change how with that definition.

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Santorum did not talk about what impact a federal ban would have on the same-sex couples and families currently residing in the five states (plus the District of Columbia) that extend gay and lesbian people all of the rights and obligations of marriage.

Rep. Allen West Slams DADT Repeal, Says Gay Soldiers ‘Can Change Behavior

By Tanya Somanader

The repeal of the Don’t Ask Don’t Tell (DADT) policy last year did not mark the end of the GOP’s attempt to continue its war on open military service. This year, House Republicans slid multiple amendments into the FY 2012 defense authorization bill to delay the implementation of DADT. Many of this year’s potential GOP presidential candidates, including confirmed candidate Tim Pawlenty (R-MN), pledged to re-instate DADT upon election. GOP Rep. Allen West (FL) bucked this trend, however, by stating he wouldn’t do anything to prevent the DADT repeal. But today, at the Heritage Foundation, he made it clear that he nonetheless does not approve of gays in the military.

Dubbing the military implementation of DADT repeal as “considerable social experimentation,” the Heritage Foundation asked West what top leadership can do “to ensure that force effectiveness is sustained at a superior level.” West opted to “put it very simple,” stating that the military does not conform to the individual or “a very small special interest group” like the LGBT community. When noting that African-Americans were once barred from military service, West said while he can’t change his skin color, gay servicemembers “can change behavior”:

WEST: Let me put it very simple, the U.S. military exists to win the nation’s wars. When you join the military, it takes individual behavior that conforms into the military. Now, if we start to have a perspective and belief in this nation that the military conforms to individual behavior, then we have lost the understanding of what it means to be in the U.S. military. The rules are very clear in the U.S. military. If you don’t want to abide by the rules of the U.S. military, then don’t join.

But the U.S. military is not there as a social experiment and for those who will sit up there and say, Congressman, you should understand because you’re black. Unless I’m Michael Jackson, I can’t change my color. But people can change behavior. And you do not base being a part of the military on adjusting to individual behavior. That’s my concern. And when you look at what our young men and women have to contend with, we’re talking about men and women fifth and sixth tours in combat zones. Now is not the time to appease a very small special interest group and I’ll leave it at that.

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West’s belief that gay soldiers can and should somehow change who they are to serve not only flies in the face of American ideals, but in the face of military experience. By insisting the LGBT community jeopardizes the military’s mission, West — who often touts his own military background — directly contradicts the advice and opinion of the military leadership and themajority of the American public who favor open military service. Indeed, the military service chiefs reported that there are “no issues” with implementing the DADT repeal.

Santorum Says He Does ‘Not Approve’ Of Teaching History Of Gay Americans In California Schools

By Lee Fang

A bill moving through the California legislature compels the state to add gay history to the state education curriculum. Predictably, just as the addition of African American history and civil rights history to California school textbooks stirred right-wing hatred during the 1960′s, conservatives are railing against the effort. As the Associated Press notes, “California law already requires schools to teach about women, African Americans, Mexican Americans, entrepreneurs, Asian Americans, European Americans, American Indians and labor.”

On Friday, ThinkProgress caught up with former Sen. Rick Santorum (R-PA) at the South Carolina Silver Elephant Dinner, where he had just finished his keynote address. Santorum said he was “not surprised” by the California bill, which he said is a “logical consequence” of court decisions “creating rights.” Presumably, Santorum is referring to the multiple court decisions affirming the right of gay marriage in California. In any case, Santorum said he “certainly would not approve” of teaching gay history:

FANG: I don’t know if you’ve seen the news, but California is adopting in their state curriculum for public education a required teaching of the gay rights movement. Are you troubled by that at all? I know you’ve written and talked about this issue of education.

SANTORUM: Well what I talked about is that there are consequences of the court’s actions and I think the court, by ruling the way they did, has created a precedent that states now have to follow, and some states are going farther others. I certainly would not approve of that, but there’s a logical consequence to the courts injecting themselves in creating rights and people attaching their legislative ideas to those rights that in some respects could logically flow from that. So I’m not surprised.

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Brandishing his anti-gay social conservative values, Santorum would like schools to censor the contributions of gay American scholars, inventors, and activists. Perhaps he would like to bury the fact that even his own campaign slogan, “Fighting to make America America again,” is borrowed from the gay Harlem Renaissance poet Langston Hughes.

Alan Simpson On GOP: ‘We Have Homophobes In Our Party’

By Zack Ford

On MSNBC’s Hardball with Chris Matthews today, former Senator Alan Simpson (R-WY), co-chair of President Obama’s debt commission, railed against the social conservatives in the Republican party. He admonished male legislators for voting on abortion issues and “homophobes” like Rick Santorum who say “cruel, cruel things” about gays and lesbians:

SIMPSON: Who the hell is for abortion? I don’t know anybody running around with a sign that says, “Have an abortion! They’re wonderful!” They’re hideous, but they’re a deeply intimate and personal decision, andI don’t think men legislators should even vote on the issue.

Then you’ve got homosexuality, you’ve got Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell. We have homophobes on our party. That’s disgusting to me. We’re all human beings. We’re all God’s children. Now if they’re going to get off on that stuff—Santorum has said some cruel things—cruel, cruel things—about homosexuals. Ask him about it; see if he attributes the cruelness of his remarks years ago. Foul.

Now if that’s the kind of guys that are going to be on my ticket, you know, it makes you sort out hard what Reagan said, you know, “Stick with your folks.” But, I’m not sticking with people who are homophobic, anti-women, moral values—while you’re diddling your secretary while you’re giving a speech on moral values? Come on, get off of it.

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Simpson could be referring to any number of leading Republican presidential contenders, including Newt Gingrich, who recently defended his support of the anti-gay American Family Association, Mike Huckabee, who “would love the world to be led by people who have a Biblical worldview, or Tim Pawlenty, who will never be at the point where he sees same-sex relationships as the same as traditional marriage.