Presidential hopeful Rick Santorum
continues to deny he's anti-gay.
In an interview with CNN anchor Don
Lemon, the former Pennsylvania senator who once likened gay unions to
“man on dog” insisted that his opposition to gay marriage is a
matter of public policy, adding that opponents should be able to
debate the issue without being called bigots.
“I have a difference of agreement on
a public policy issue, that doesn't mean I hate anybody,” Santorum
told Lemon. “I'm called by my faith to love everybody. I do. I
mean I pray for people whether they're for me or against me because
that's what I'm suppose to do.”
“Just because I disagree with what a
legal definition of what marriage is, doesn't mean I dislike anybody
or hate anybody or am spiteful of anybody. It's because that's what
I think is best for society. And we should be able to disagree
without calling people bigots.”
When Lemon asked if Santorum has any
gay friends, Santorum answered that he does and that he loves them.
“In fact, I was with a gay friend
just two days ago. So, yeah, I do. And they respect that I have
differences of opinion on that. I talk about these things in front
of them and we have conversations about it. They differ from me, but
they know that I love them because they're my friends. … And we
have respectful differences.” (The video is embedded in the right
panel of this page.)
Santorum
endorsed a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage last week.