Rick Santorum, Republican presidential
candidate, on Tuesday reiterated his stance that gay and lesbian
couples don't qualify for marriage.
The former senator from Pennsylvania
made his remarks during a question and answer session at Pennsylvania
State University, from which he earned a Bachelor's degree in
political science in 1980.
The 53-year-old Santorum told the
students that legalizing gay marriage would have “profound
consequence to the entire moral ecology of America,” would
undermine the family, and “destroy faith in America.”
The conversation became heated when
Santorum asserted that he's not heard anyone making arguments that
marriage equality is “right.”
“I don't hear those arguments,” he
said.
“It is extremely unfair for you to
say that there are no social science reports that suggest that
children are okay in a same-sex relationship,” a female student
responded. “There are plenty of statistical studies that prove
that they are just as happy, as successful, as everything else as
long as they have two parents supporting them.”
Santorum immediately became defensive.
“I see,” he said, and then went on to dismiss the students'
arguments.
When asked, “Why don't you find
protection for gay marriage in the Equal Protection Clause and the
Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments?”
Santorum answered, “Because I'm not an activist and looks at the
Constitution as a way to justify my own personal beliefs and imposing
them on the rest of society.”
Marriage “is a privilege given out by
government that gives government benefits to people who are
recognized by the government. It's not a right.”
“It is a completely natural and right
institution. And government recognized that. They recognized the
value that having men and women married, raising children, is the
best possible place for children to be raised. You want to look at
the social science on that? Don't even try if you disagree with me.”
(The video is embedded in the right panel of this page.)