Anti-Gay Mark Neumann, Openly Lesbian Tammy Baldwin Vie For Senator Herb Kohl's Seat
- By
- On Top Magazine Staff
- | August 30, 2011
Former Wisconsin Rep. Mark Neumann on Monday announced he'll run for the U.S. Senate in 2012 as a Republican, setting up a possible match-up between openly lesbian Wisconsin Rep. Tammy Baldwin and a stridently anti-gay competitor.
Neumann, who lost a bid for the state's GOP gubernatorial nomination to Governor Scott Walker last year, made his announcement on the Charlie Sykes radio show.
The two-term former congressman told his host that he believed he would face Baldwin, who has yet to formally declare her candidacy, in the general election: “I believe our opponent is Tammy Baldwin and I believe it is essential that we bring Tammy Baldwin's record to the forefront.”
Writing at GayPolitics.com, Denis Dison of the Victory Fund reminds us of Neumann's anti-gay rhetoric.
In 1996, Neumann said, “If I were elected God for a day, homosexuality wouldn't be permitted.” Four years later, during an interview with The New York Times, he added: “The part about me being God for a day is the problem with that. I'm not God, don't intend to be and hope I never have that much power. … I regret talking about the fact that I would be God.”
He's also said being openly gay is “inappropriate.”
“If somebody walks in to me and says, 'I'm a gay person, I want a job in your office,' I would say that's inappropriate, and they wouldn't be hired because that would mean they are promoting their agenda.”
If elected, Baldwin would become the Senate's first openly gay member.