Former Pennsylvania senator and
possible 2016 presidential candidate Rick Santorum agrees with Texas
Governor Rick Perry's suggestion that being gay is a choice, saying
that Perry's point in comparing homosexuality to alcoholism is
“accurate.”
Santorum and Perry competed for
socially conservative voters in 2012 as each vied to become the
Republican presidential nominee.
Perry made his comments on Wednesday
during an appearance in San Francisco.
When asked whether he believes being
gay is a disorder, Perry answered: “Whether or not you feel
compelled to follow a particular lifestyle or not, you have the
ability to decide not to do that. I may have the genetic coding that
I'm inclined to be an alcoholic, but I have the desire not to do
that, and I look at the homosexual issue the same way.”
(Related: Rick
Perry compares being gay to an alcoholic.)
In an interview Friday with USA Today's
Capital Download, Santorum, who has been criticized in the
past for using analogies to
explain his opposition to marriage equality, defended his
possible 2016 rival's comments, though he said politicians should
avoid making comparisons.
“I think anybody's behavior is a
choice. Behavior is a choice,” Santorum
answered when asked whether he agrees with Perry.
When asked whether Perry's analogy was
accurate, Santorum responded: “I think doing analogies and
comparisons can be very dicey and tricky affairs because people get
very upset when you do them. … I think the point that Governor
Perry was making, which is any type of behavioral action is a choice,
is an accurate depiction.” (The video is embedded on this page.
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