Florida Rep. Allen West has downgraded
gay marriage from a threat to civilization to an unimportant issue.
In addressing the Eagle Forum
Collegians 2011 Summit in Washington last June, West suggested that
marriage equality would lead to the destruction of society.
“The term ‘gay marriage’ is an
oxymoron,” West said. “Because marriage is a union and a bond
between a man and a woman to do one thing: the furtherance of society
by procreation, through creating new life. Have you ever read the
book America Alone by Mark Steyn? It’s about demographics.
And if we continue with a cycle of debt and punishing our unborn then
it just becomes a matter of time before you don’t have society.”
On Friday, when CNN host Kyra Phillips
asked West whether he thought gay marriage was an issue the federal
government should make a decision on, West said that there “are a
lot people that try to take you down a rabbit hole to discuss things
that really aren't that important.”
“Wait a minute,” Phillips
interrupted. “Are you saying gay marriage is not important?”
“I think if you poll the American
people … I don't think they're going to bring up gay marriage as
one of the top concerns. The American people are concerned about
where they're working,” West replied. (The video is embedded in
the right panel of this page. Visit
our video library for more videos.)
(Related: Republicans
quietly killed anti-gay marriage bills.)