Former Arizona Congressman J.D.
Hayworth, who is challenging Senator John McCain in the Republican
primary, said Massachusetts' gay marriage law was “dangerous” and
would likely allow a man to marry a horse, the Huffington
Post first reported.
Hayworth made his comments during an
interview on Orlando-based radio station WORL Sunday.
The fifty-one-year-old politician
called the Massachusetts Supreme Court ruling that legalized gay
marriage in the state “dangerous” because it defines marriage as
simply “the establishment of intimacy.”
“Now how dangerous is that?”
Hayworth said.
“I guess that would mean if you
really had affection for your horse, I guess you could marry your
horse.”
The former television sportscaster then
affirmed his support for a federal constitutional amendment defining
marriage as a heterosexual union, a move that would strike down
existing gay marriage laws and block the Supreme Court from
legalizing the institution.
“It's just the wrong way to go, and
the only way to protect the institution of marriage is with that
federal marriage amendment that I support,” he said.
While McCain has voted against the
constitutional amendment, he does not support gay marriage. The
seventy-three-year-old senator says he believes states should define
marriage, not the federal government.
Gay activists have argued that such a
marriage would not be allowed because animals cannot enter legal
contracts or give legal consent.