Presidential candidate Michele Bachmann
has dismissed gay marriage as a “frivolous” issue.
The Congresswoman from Minnesota
refused to answer how she feels about the issue during an interview
with the Concord Monitor.
“I'm not involved in light, frivolous
matters,” she
said, cutting off the interview. “I'm not involved in fringe
or side issues. I'm involved in serious issues.”
She insisted she is focused on the
economy and repealing federal heath care reform.
It is another example of how Bachmann
continues to try to have it both ways: Refusing to discuss social
issues with mainstream reporters, but freely discussing her
opposition to gay marriage with outlets biased toward her views.
For example, when asked by ABC News
about the allegations that the Christian counseling centers run by
Bachmann and her husband Marcus Bachmann practice so-called “pray
away the gay” therapy, she
insisted her campaign was about creating jobs.
But when asked last month her position
on gay marriage by David Brody, chief political correspondent for the
Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN), she
freely discussed the issue.
“In our form of government the states
under the 10th Amendment have the right to pass
legislation that they like. For instance, I tried to pass the
constitutional amendment in Minnesota to define marriage as one man,
one woman. Happily, the Minnesota Legislature did that just a few
months ago. Now the voters in my home state will be able to vote on
marriage in 2012 on the ballot.”
“As President of the United States, I
will not appoint activist judges who legislate from the bench. I
will appoint constitutionalist judges who revere and uphold our
constitution.”
“I believe that this is such a
fundamental issue to our nation. The strengthening of the family and
the importance of marriage between a man and woman that I will stand
for that as President of the United States.”
And on Tuesday, she'll
join the anti-gay marriage group the National Organization for
Marriage (NOM) on a 4-day bus tour that ends at the Ames Straw Poll.