Rick Santorum has panned President
Barack Obama's plan to tie some foreign aid to gay rights, CNN
reported.
The president on Tuesday issued a
memorandum
directing all agencies engaged abroad to make certain U.S. aid
programs “promote and protect” the rights of gay people.
The memo instructs agencies to increase
government and civil society engagement in an effort to promote gay
rights, including combating criminalization of LGBT status or conduct
abroad, and requires agencies to submit an annual report detailing
their progress towards advancing LGBT issues.
Reacting to the news in Iowa, Santorum,
a vocal opponent of gay rights, in particular marriage equality, told
reporters that decisions about foreign aid should be based on
humanitarian need, “not based on whether people are promoting their
particular agenda.”
“Obviously the administration is
promoting their particular agenda in this country, and now they feel
its their obligation to promote those values not just in the
military, not just in our society, but now around the world with
taxpayer dollars,” Santorum said.
Santorum also suggested that Obama is
being less than forthright about his position on gay marriage.
“He said he's for traditional
marriage, and now he's promoting gay lifestyles and gay rights, and
he's fighting against traditional marriage within the courts, and I
think he needs to be honest,” he said.
(Related: Rick Perry condemns Obama for
tying foreign aid to gay rights.)