Sen.
Santorum Defends Remarks in Gay Court Case
Reuters,
April 22, 2003
WASHINGTON—Sen. Rick Santorum of
Pennsylvania on Tuesday ignored calls that he apologize and resign from his
Senate leadership post as he defended comments he made comparing homosexuality
to bigamy, polygamy, incest and adultery.
“My comments should not be misconstrued in any way as a
statement on individual lifestyles,” Santorum said in a brief news release
issued by his office.
In an interview with the Associated Press published on
Monday, Santorum, chairman of the Senate Republican Conference, discussed a
Texas sodomy law now being challenged before the U.S. Supreme Court.
“If the Supreme Court says that you have the right to
consensual (gay) sex within your home, then you have the right to bigamy, you
have the right to polygamy, you have the right to incest, you have the right
to adultery,” Santorum was quoted as saying. “You have the right to
anything.”
The court is considering if the Texas law violates
privacy rights and unfairly targets same-sex couples or if the state has a
legitimate interest in setting moral standards.
In his statement on Tuesday, Santorum said: “When
discussing the pending Supreme Court Case Lawrence v. Texas, my comments were
specific to the right to privacy and the broader implications of a ruling on
other state privacy laws.”
“In the interview, I expressed the same concern as many
constitutional scholars, and discussed arguments put forward by the State of
Texas, as well as Supreme Court justices. If such a law restricting personal
conduct is held unconstitutional, so could other existing state laws,”
Santorum said.
“My discussion ... was about the Supreme Court privacy
case, the constitutional right to privacy in general, and in context of the
impact on the family. I am a firm believer that all are equal under the
Constitution,” Santorum said.
His comments on Monday ignited a firestorm of criticism
from some Democrats as well as gay rights groups, a number of whom demanded an
apology.
In addition, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee
(DSCC) called on Santorum on Tuesday to step down as chairman of the Senate
Republican Conference, the No. 3 job in the party’s leadership. A DSCC
spokesman called his comments “divisive, hurtful and reckless.”
“Senator Santorum has no reason to apologize,” a
spokesman for Santorum said, adding that the senator was ignoring as
unwarranted the Democratic call to step down.
The flap comes four months after Sen. Trent Lott of
Mississippi was forced to step down as Senate Republican leader for racially
charged remarks.
“Yet another Republican member of Congress has insulted
an entire group of Americans,” Democratic Party Chairman Terry McAuliffe
said on Tuesday.
At the White House, press secretary Ari Fleischer had no
comment on the matter, saying, “I have not seen the entire context of the
interview” and had not discussed it with Bush.
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