Christine O'Donnell's openly lesbian
sister says the tea party favorite is not homophobic.
O'Donnell, who prevailed over Rep. Mike
Castle on Tuesday to win the GOP 's Delaware nomination for the U.S.
Senate, had been accused of gay baiting her rival, promoting the
ex-gay movement and making derogatory remarks against the gay
community.
In a video posted at the tea
party-backed website Liberty.com, a female impersonating a newscaster
praises O'Donnell, then suggests that her rival is gay.
“Isn't Mike Castle cheating on his
wife with a man?” an unseen voice asks.
“That's the rumor,” the gleeful
newscaster responds.
O'Donnell took advantage of the opening
by repeating the claim while denying any involvement in the rumor.
“I think that that's a very tacky
approach,” she said on the Dan Gaffney Show. “I never
said that Mike Castle was gay … I don't endorse putting out rumors
that Mike Castle is gay.”
And she also repeated the suggestion on
the Mark Levin Show: “You know these are the types of cheap
underhanded, unmanly tactics that we've come to expect from Obama's
favorite Republican, Mike Castle. You know I released a statement
today saying, Mike Castle this is not a bake-off. Get your man pants
on.”
O'Donnell, who is known for her
old-fashioned views about sex, is the founder of the Saviors Alliance
for Lifting the Truth (SALT), a Christian-based group that promotes
abstinence. Wade Richards, a former SALT staffer, has alleged that
O'Donnell supports “curing” gay men and lesbians from their
homosexuality.
O'Donnell is also a former spokeswoman
for the Christian group Concerned Women for America (CWA), which
opposes gay rights, including repeal of “Don't Ask, Don't Tell,”
the 1993 law that prohibits gay troops from serving openly.
And three years ago in a Fox News
interview, she bitterly complained that people attending Gay Pride
parades were “getting away with lasciviousness … nudity …
perversion.”
But O'Donnell's sister, Jean, who
lives in Los Angeles and is openly gay, has laughed off the
suggestion that her sister is homophobic.
After O'Donnell won Tuesday's primary,
Jean O'Donnell wrote on her Facebook page: “... thank you for your
love, prayers, good humor and support of my sister, no matter what
lies were made up about her … oh ... PS, have you heard the latest?
She's homophobic … gotta laugh.”