Former Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty
said on Wednesday that as president he would work to reinstate “Don't
Ask, Don't Tell,” the soon-to-be repealed law that bans gay and
bisexual troops from serving openly, RightWingWatch.org
first reported.
Pawlenty is making media appearances to
promote his new book Courage to Stand: An American Story and
raise his profile for a possible 2012 presidential bid.
The 50-year-old Pawlenty is considered
a moderate Republican, but his decision to appear on the radio
program of the American Family Association's (AFA) Bryan Fischer has
raised eyebrows.
The
Southern Poverty Law Center cited Fischer's anti-gay rhetoric in
their decision to place the AFA on its list of known hate groups.
Fischer has argued for the
criminalization of gay sex – “Homosexual sex should be just as
against the law as injection drug use is” – and has asserted
that “homosexuals controlled the Nazi Party and helped orchestrate
the Holocaust,” that “homosexuals molest children at far higher
rates than heterosexuals,” that “hate crime laws will lead to the
jailing of pastors who criticize homosexuality and the legalization
of practices like bestiality and necrophilia,” and that being gay
is a choice.
On the radio program, Fischer asked
Pawlenty if he would sign a bill that would bring back the military's
gay ban.
“I've been a public supporter of
maintaining 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' and I would support reinstating
it as well,” Pawlenty said. (The video is embedded in the right
panel of this page.)