Social conservatives Peter LaBarbera
and Jim Schneider on Wednesday lamented the record number of LGBT
candidates this election cycle.
According to the LGBTQ Victory Fund, at
least 618 LGBT candidates ran for office this year, with at least 399
advancing to the general election. That included an out candidate in
every state this election cycle, a first in U.S. history.
LaBarbera of Americans for Truth About
Homosexuality touched on the rainbow wave during an appearance on VCY
America's Crosstalk radio program.
“The sad thing is that, even as we
see this tsunami of openly LGBTQ candidates, we see the media and
even conservative media reluctant to talk about it,” LaBarbera
said. “The homosexual factor is pretty much a non-issue, except
when it’s being celebrated. If you dare criticize it, that’s
bigotry, homophobia, et cetera; it’s only to be celebrated and that
makes it very hard to make our point and to actually campaign for
what we believe in.”
(Related: Peter
LaBarbera labels LGBT rights movement “satanic.”)
Host Jim Schneider responded: “At
present, there are roughly 500 openly elected LGBT officials in the
country. What they're trying to do, of course, is to add
significantly to these ranks. I'm only guessing this is how
elections started in Sodom and Gomorrah as well.”
Texas and Florida had the second and
third highest number of out candidates this election cycle,
respectively, after California. Texas currently has few openly LGBT
elected officials.