Herman Cain has suggested that being
gay can be washed away.
During an appearance on CNN's Piers
Morgan Tonight, Cain told host Piers Morgan that being gay is a
“personal choice.”
Cain, who has recently surged in the
polls due mainly to his 9-9-9 tax reform plan, told Morgan:
“Although people don't agree with me, I happen to think that it is
a personal choice.”
When Morgan compared sexual orientation
to the color of a person's skin, Cain responded: “You know that's
not true. I was born black,” then added that his race “doesn't
wash off.” (The video is embedded in the right panel of this
page.)
Earlier in the month, Cain told The
View co-host Joy Behar that being gay was choice.
“To think that gay is a choice, I
don't know how to respond to that,” Behar said. “I mean, I don't
think anybody in this world wants to be gay considering all the
vilification that is brought upon someone who is gay. Why would you
choose that?”
“Well, you show me the science that
says that it's not and I could be persuaded,” Cain responded.
“Right now It's my opinion against the opinions of others who feel
differently. That's just a difference of opinion.”
But when MSNBC's Lawrence O'Donnell
pitched the same question, Cain refused to answer, saying only he had
a difference of opinion.
(Related: Herman
Cain's choice not to be gay praised by Stephen Colbert.)