Rick Perry was heckled over his views
against gay and bisexual troops serving openly in the military during
a campaign stop on Sunday in Ames, Iowa, the Des
Moines Register reported.
Perry addressed a crowd of about 230
people at coffee shop Cafe Diem.
The Texas governor drew applause after
promising the crowd that he would end “Obamacare,” cut the
ballooning national deficit and reduced federal regulations.
On his way out, however, someone in the
audience shouted, “Why do you hate gay people so much?”
“Go back to Texas,” another yelled.
The Los
Angeles Times identified one heckler as Jason Arment, a
24-year-old English major at Iowa State University, who is quoted as
asking Perry, “Why can't gays compete in the military?”
The incident comes roughly a week after
Perry released an anti-gay ad in early caucus state Iowa.
In the 30-second ad, titled Strong,
Perry says there is something wrong with America when gay troops can
serve openly in the military but children cannot openly celebrate
Christmas and accuses President Barack Obama of waging a war on
religion.
Arment, who said he was straight and
served with the Marines in Iraq in 2007 and 2008, told the Times
that he found the ad to be “extremely offensive” to service
members.
(Related: Rick
Perry defends anti-gay ad Strong.)
The incident sent Perry scurrying out
the back door of the coffee shop and into the back seat of a vehicle
without talking any follow up questions. (The video is embedded in
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