Louisiana Senator David Vitter, a
Republican who is campaigning for the Louisiana Governor's Mansion,
said this week that marriage equality will “unleash assaults”
against Christians opposed to such unions.
Vitter, who is best known for his
involvement in a prostitution scandal, made his comments during a
campaign stop in Baton Rouge.
Supporters of the Supreme Court's June
ruling striking down gay marriage bans, Vitter told a Jefferson
Baptist Church audience, want their views “shoved down the throats
of folks who have sincerely held religious views that marriage is
between one man and one woman.”
“[The high court's ruling] will
clearly unleash all sorts of assaults against conservative Christians
who believe that marriage is between one man and one woman. And make
no mistake about it, those assaults are coming on churches, pastors
and believers who are trying to live their faith in a quiet but
important way, including in terms of how they choose to live their
lives and run their businesses.”
“They want to make believers like us
second-class citizens,” Vitter
claimed. “They want to completely push us out of the public
square and in some cases persecute folks who simply want to live
their faith in terms of how they do business and other things.”
Vitter also endorsed a proposed bill
that protects people opposed to marriage equality based on their
religious beliefs.