Newt Gingrich has a new philosophy: gay people can choose to be straight like priests choose to be celibate. The presidential hopeful told the Des Moines Register editorial board that gays have a “significant range of choice within a genetic pattern” and can therefore make choices as it relates to sexual orientation.
When asked whether or not Gingrich say similarities between the civil rights era and gays seeking quality today, Gingrich explained, “[There’s a] big difference between saying that you’re to have an acceptance of people’s lifestyles and saying that you’re now going to normalize that as a standard for the whole country,” he says.
On whether or not people can choose to be straight or gay, Gingrich explains that he doesn’t “believe in genetic determinism and I don’t think there is any great evidence of genetic determinism. There are propensities. Are you more likely to do this or more likely to do that? But that doesn’t mean it’s definitional.”
Gingrich does not support same-sex marriage.
He added: “The fact is I am a traditional, classic conservative. And I’m defending a value system that has a thousand year history behind it. And I think it’s pretty clear.”
Earlier this month, half-sister Candace Gingrich-Jones said she would not vote for her sibling in light of his gay rights views that sit on the “wrong side of history.”
Newt is simply beyond belief. His out-of-control libido has led him to stray from and renounce his marriage vows twice, including an affair with a staffer while he was leading the impeachment of Bill Clinton for a dalliance with a staffer, yet he speaks as”a traditional, classic conservative … defending a value system that has a thousand year history behind it”? And now he asserts that gays can just say no to their very human sexuality on the same basis that some males forgo sexuality in service to their god as priests? That may be the mother of all false equivalences.
Why does ANYONE pay attention to this monster?
although i don’t support repubs or the conservative view, I agree that te gay life is a choice…many say they wouldn’t choose this life, but they have. you made the choice to date your same sex, of course you have the whole attraction issue, but just because you are attracted doesn’t mean you have to pursue it
Your “sillymiss” name sure does suit your comment! Incredible that you still believe that when so much has been shown that it is not true. To each his own.
It’s as much a choice as heterosexuality. Just because you’re attracted to the opposite sex doesn’t mean you have to pursue it, build a relationship, get married, have children, and live a happy productive life. See? It sounds rediculous when it concerns you doesn’t it? It sounds just as rediculous to homosexuals.
So if ‘private behavior’ has no room in the military then Gingrich advocates ‘don’t ask don’t tell’ for people who are straight? If a straight male soldier tells people he has a girlfriend or a wife, shows up at the Marine Ball with his spouse, has a picture of his children and spouse on his desk, wears a wedding ring, or asks for time off when his wife has a baby or is dying in the hospital he can be thrown out of the military?
This is the most incredible thing, I think, that has come out of that man’s mouth! OMG! Oh, and the priest celibacy thing CERTAINLY has been successful!! I just cannot believe that anyone believes this garbage! I am very straight female but I’ve never ever believed that anyone would CHOOSE that difficult lifestyle for themselves. There are so many barriers for them to deal with in every day life—no one would just CHOOSE to be gay!
Hey SillyMiss
You sure have no understanding of gay/lesbian sexuality. You have a choice not to be a complete close minded idiot, but you pursued it. Just imagine if someone told you that you chose to pursue your apparently straight life? Did you ever wonder what it would be like if attraction to the opposite sex was seen as a choice? You are attracted to men, as a woman, then someone tells you that you can’t possibly pursue it and you have to endure life as a lesbian? Would that make YOU happy and fulfilled?
Hey, Newt – a “traditional, classic conservative” would say that personal freedom is paramount, and that every individual does, indeed, have a choice to live how he or she sees fit, and to enjoy all of the same rights as everyone else. You, sir, are no “traditional, classic conservative”; rather, you’re a bigoted neoconservative who gives the rest of us who ARE classic conservatives a bad name. Laissez-faire means more than just economics; it also means the government ought to be staying the hell out of the bedrooms and personal lives of citizens, and that includes the imposition of self-righteous definitions and judgments that run contrary to science and fact.
Oh really if that’s the case then why are priests constantly getting arrested for screwing their alter boys!!!! Don’t give me that bullshit you morons!!!!!
so….lets pretend it was a choice, which it is not. why cant they get married? if it is so important to protect, then why are divorce rates so high?
From what I hear in the news all the time, I don’t think that priests choosing celibacy is that effective, if you ask me….
I do acknowledge that gay people can choose to PRETEND to be straight… but that’s not the point, is it. Amazing how much ignorance is out there.
Isn’t it also odd, that when male priests molest children, they usually end up targeting BOYS??? What a bunch of hypocrites….
From the pope himself (paraphrased): homosexuality is apparently such a horrible thing, but pedophilia is “not an absolute sin, no”.
While condemning what two consenting adults do behind closed doors, they almost in the same breath, try to minimize having sex with underage children who cannot give informed consent… Ya, these people have *OBVIOUSLY* thought this one out pretty hard, ROFL