Michigan Governor Rick Snyder, a
Republican, has described the anti-gay remarks of a former Michigan
state representative as “wrong.”
Dave Agema, Michigan's national GOP
committeeman, created controversy this week when he told a Republican
audience that gays want free medical care because they are dying
young, presumably from AIDS.
“Folks, they [gay people] want free
medical because they're dying [when they're] between 30 and 44 years
old. To me, it's a moral issue. It's a Biblical issue. Traditional
marriage is where it should be and it's in our platform. Those in
our party who oppose traditional marriage are wrong,” he said.
Agema, a former pilot, added that while
working at American Airlines he saw gay workers falsely claim
HIV-positive persons as their spouses to secure medical benefits for
them.
In remarks to MIRS
News, Sara Wurfel, Snyder's press secretary, condemned the
comments.
“What I'd say, plainly and simply, is
that the Governor believes Mr. Agema's remarks are wrong, extreme and
discriminatory. … We shouldn't tolerate discrimination of any kind.
There shouldn't be room for that in any political party, period,”
she
said.
Snyder has previously refused to
comment on Agema's anti-gay rhetoric.
Agema was severely criticized in March
after he promoted an article which described gays as “filthy
homosexuals” in a Facebook post.
(Related: Dave
Agema: Calling gays “filthy homosexuals” is “more about
caring.”)