Santorum Keeps Attacking Gay Marriage; Now, He’ll ’Invalidate’ Them
GOP presidential hopeful Rick Santorum recently appeared on Fox News' "Studio B" and defended his anti-gay views. He also said in an NBC interview with Chuck Todd that ban gay marriage and any current same-sex marriages would be invalid under a constitutional amendment.
"The question is whether we should change the laws of this country to reflect a different value structure," Santorum said on Fox. "What we're talking about here are different values. We have to Judeo-Christian values that are based on Biblical truth and truth that can be acclaimed and resolved through reason. And, those truths don't change just because people's attitudes may change."
Santorum also said that he believes people are allowed to love several different people and we can honor those relationships but cannot call or treat them as a marriage.
"Family is the foundation of our society and marriage is the glue that holds that family together," he said. "That's not being against anybody, that's being for something."
When the former Republican U.S. Pennsylvania senator was interviewed by NBC's Chuck Todd, he said that if he is elected president he would back a federal ban on same-sex marriages and under a constitutional amendment, he would make all current same-sex marriages invalid, the Huffington Post reported in a Jan. 1 article.
Santorum said he believes there should be only one marriage law for the entire country. Todd asked him if he would make married same-sex couples divorce. Santorum said, "Well their marriage would be invalid. If the constitution says 'marriage is this,' then people whose marriages are not consistent with the constitution ... (shrug.) I'd love to think that there was another way of doing it."
Santorum has made opposition to gay rights a cornerstone of his career since he was the junior senator from the Keystone State. In the current campaign, his rhetoric against same-sex marriages has stood out, even in this nasty presidential race, where candidates seem to be trying to outdo each other in their "pro-family" rhetoric. He believes gay marriage negatively impacts the country where it is legalized.
Just last weekend, he stated that friendship and family unity are important but, "it's not as important for the health of society as men and women coming together, joining together in marriage, having children and raising those children for the future of society."
In December, Santorum even said that same-sex marriages were responsible for a decrease in marriage rates across the country.
Several LGBT organizations, Democrats and the gay group Log Cabin Republicans criticized Santorum for his statements about gay rights and have deemed them homophobic and bigoted.
In an interview with Associated Press reporter Lara Jakes Jordan, Santorum said that he does not believe gays should engage in sexual acts because the definition of marriage does not include homosexuality. He then said, "That's not to pick on homosexuality. It's not, you know, man on child, man on dog, or whatever the case may be. It is one thing."
During a debate in late September, a gay soldier asked Santorum if he would repeal the Don't Ask, Don't Tell Act, if elected president.
"I would say any type of sexual activity has absolutely no place in the military," Santorum responded. "And the fact that they're making a point to include it as a provision within the military that we are going to recognize a group of people and give them a special privilege to -- and removing 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell,' I think tries to inject social policy into the military. And the military's job is to do one thing, and that is to defend our country."
Despite Santorum's strong stance on gays and same-sex marriage RedState.com reported that the politician was a member of a board at a gay-friendly hospital management company.
He left the board of Universal Health Services around the same time he announced that he was running for president.
The hospital claims that it is "the nation's first and leading provider of mental health service to the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community."