Republican presidential candidate Rick
Santorum on Friday insisted gay people must respect his opinion.
The former Pennsylvania senator, who
surprised last week with a fourth place finish in the Iowa Straw Poll, talked about how he feels about gay people in a Fox News
segment with Megan Kelly.
During the segment, Kelly called
Santorum an “incredibly nice guy” who is “very caring” and
“looks out for other people,” then added: “When I talk to some
of my friends who are gay and lesbian, they don't understand that
characterization of you, because they think you have it in for gays
and lesbians. Because you're anti-gay marriage and you've called it
wrong and you called it destructive of the family.”
Santorum denied he harbors any ill will
toward gay people, and then insisted they should respect his opinion.
“We can have a public policy
difference about what the proper marriage laws should be in this
country and what's in the best interest of society and not hate
somebody or feel ill will toward anybody.”
“As I've said many times, I have
friends who are gay, you know, I accept them as they are, but I
disagree with them vehemently about what is in the best interest of
society with respect to our marriage laws and what we are going to
teach our children in schools; what the impact of those marriage laws
will be on our faith communities and their ability to able to
proclaim the truth as God has laid it out in the Bible.”
Santorum suggested being gay is a
choice when he said “I respect that decision.”
“But also you have to respect me for
feeling very differently about trying to take that [sexual]
orientation and then to try to project an agenda on to the American
public that is consistent with that.”
“But it's not personal, it's about
policy,” he added. (The video is embedded in the right panel of
this page.)
(Related: Rick Santorum says 'pursuit
of happiness' doesn't apply to gay folks; blames
the economic downtown on gay marriage.)