Can Tap Water Make You Gay? DeSantis Appointee Thinks So
In a move to take over control of the oversight board that controls Disney's special tax district in Orlando, Governor Ron DeSantis has hand-picked five members. Amongst them is one who calls homosexuality "evil" and shared a baseless conspiracy theory that tap water could be making more people gay, CNN reports.
"DeSantis signed a bill in February that allowed him to replace the district's existing board — mostly people with ties to Disney — with a five-member body that he hand-picked. The move to remove power from Disney comes nearly a year after the company spoke out against a Florida bill — which DeSantis later signed into law — to restrict certain classroom instruction about sexual orientation and gender identity," writes CNN.
One of DeSantis's choices is Ron Peri, an Orlando-based former pastor and the CEO of The Gathering — a Christian ministry focused on outreach to men.
A CNN KFile review of Peri's past comments found that he frequently made derogatory remarks about the LGBTQ community.
"So why are there homosexuals today? There are any number of reasons, you know, that are given. Some would say the increase in estrogen in our societies. You know, there's estrogen in the water from birth control pills. They can't get it out," Peri baselessly said in a January 2022 Zoom discussion, which was later put on YouTube, but taken down.
"The level of testosterone in men broadly in America has declined by 50 points in the past 10 years. You know, and so, maybe that's a part of it.
"But the big part I would suggest to you, based upon what it's saying here, is the removal of constraint," he continued. "So our society provided the constraint. And so, which is the responsibility of a society to constrain people from doing evil? Well, you remove the constraints, and then evil occurs."
It is true that Testosterone levels in men have dropped in recent decades, but researchers are unsure why, and the drop is not 50%. Nor is there any indication that a drop in testosterone affects sexual orientation. Likewise, there is no evidence that estrogen in the water supply, for which birth control pills account for a statistically insignificant amount, affects sexual orientation.
"The claim that chemicals in tap water could turn people gay has gained ground with conspiracy theorists over the years, most memorably with fringe commentator Alex Jones, who said chemicals in the water were 'turning the friggin' frogs gay.' In the same discussion, Peri called homosexuality 'shameful,' linking it to disease," CNN writes.
"There are a lot of unhealthy effects of a homosexual lifestyle," said Peri. "There are diseases, but it goes beyond that."
CNN adds that Peri has also said that LGBTQ people "don't have a stake in the future" because many do not have children, and he called gay people "deviant."
In one discussion, he linked homosexuality to the fall of the Roman Empire — a fringe historical belief occasionally pushed by some Christian activists.
"Homosexuality was praised," Peri said. "LGBTQ today is being emphasized everywhere, even on children's shows. And so ultimately the Romans had become weak."
Peri's discussions, which focused on seeing the modern world through a Biblical viewpoint, often touched on social topics. CNN reached out to both DeSantis and Peri for comment, but neither responded.