Rick Santorum Slams Rick Perry's Gay Marriage Views; Santorum Says It's Wrong

Rick Santorum is the first presidential candidate to say he'll work to overturn New York's gay marriage law.

Without mentioning his name, the former senator from Pennsylvania also took a swipe at Texas Governor Rick Perry for supporting New York's right to approve the law, the Des Moines Register reported.

Last week, Perry, who is often cited as a possible 2012 GOP presidential candidate, said: “Our friends in New York six weeks ago passed a statute that said marriage can be between two people of the same sex. And you know what? That's New York, and that's their business, and that's fine with me.”

The governor added that he believes in the 10^th Amendment, but went on to call himself an “unapologetic social conservative” and affirmed his opposition to marriage equality.

Perry's views mirror those of Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann, who opposes gay marriage but has affirmed her support for states to decide the issue.

At a campaign stop in Ankeny, Iowa, Santorum disagreed, telling a small crowd at a local restaurant that New York's gay marriage law is “wrong.”

Santorum said gay marriage would lead to kindergarten children being “inculcated with the state's idea of what normal is.”

He added that marriage equality “undermines a basic institution of society, it turns religious liberty on its head, it turns the culture on its head, it turns the education system on its head. It will undermine every basic traditional value in this country.”

“For what purpose? For what real, legitimate purpose? People can live whatever life they want to live. No one in government is saying people can't live together, cohabitate, contract for benefits, do whatever they want to do. But that isn't enough. They have to have the word and with the word comes a complete change in society.

“I am not, as some in this race have said, OK with New York doing what they're doing. What New York did was wrong. I will oppose it and I will go to New York, if necessary, to help overturn it.”

“I'm for great latitude for the states to do a lot, but not anything. And this idea that the 10^th Amendment means there is no boundary to what the states can do is a misunderstanding of the 10^th Amendment and I will stand on that ground,” he added.