Rick Santorum on Sunday said as
president he would work to reinstate “Don't Ask, Don't Tell,” the
policy that banned gay and bisexual troops from serving openly, media
watchdog RightWingWatch.org
reported.
Speaking at Greenwell Springs Baptist
Church in Greenwell Springs, Louisiana, Santorum and Family Research
Council President Tony Perkins were introduced by Dennis Terry,
senior pastor at the church.
Perkins, whose group strongly opposed
repeal of “Don't Ask, Don't Tell,” said the Obama Administration
“has systematically used this military for social experimentation”
by “overturning the 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' policy and forcing open
homosexuality on the military.”
“Will you reverse that policy?”
Perkins asked.
“I think [I am] the only one that's
publicly stated that I would reverse that policy,” Santorum
answered. “I don't think anybody else in this race has said they
would do that.”
“I don't believe that it's in the
best interest of our men and women in uniform. That doesn't mean
that people who are gays and lesbians can't serve. They can serve in
the context what I think everybody in the military should do. Keep
their own private matters to themselves and serve this country
accordingly.” (The video is embedded in the right panel of this
page. Visit
our video library for more videos.)
(Related: Rick
Santorum calls DADT repeal a “tragic social experiment.”)