Posted on 07/16/2005 12:12:46 PM PDT by gopgen
Gay-rights opponent Santorum stands by outed aide
BY STEVE GOLDSTEIN
Knight Ridder Newspapers
WASHINGTON - (KRT) - The senior spokesman for Sen. Rick Santorum, R- Pa., Friday confirmed to a web log that he is gay.
According to PageOneQ, an online gay and lesbian publication, director of communications Robert L. Traynham, said that he was an "out gay man who completely supports the senator."
Santorum, the third-ranking Republican in the Senate leadership has been an outspoken opponent of homosexual rights and a leading proponent of a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage.
Santorum, who was traveling in Pittsburgh, released the following statement:
"Robert Traynham ... is widely respected and admired on Capitol Hill, both among the press corps and among the congressional staff, as a communications professional. Not only is Mr. Traynham an exemplary staffer, but he is also a trusted friend confidente to me and my family. Mr. Traynham is a valued member of my staff and I regret that this effort on behalf of people who oppose me has made him a target of bigotry in their eyes.
"It is entirely unacceptable that my staffs' personal lives are considered fair game by partisans looking for arguments to bolster my opponent's campaign. Mr. Traynham continues to have my full support and confidence as well as my prayers as he navigates this rude and mean spirited invasion of his personal life."
Mark Rodgers, chief of staff at the Republican conference, which Santorum chairs, said, "Robert is a tremendous employee and we're all for standing by him." Traynham's homosexuality was not news to the senator or his staff, he added.
In the online interview, Traynham defended his decision to work with the senator. "Sen. Santorum is a man of principle, he is a man who sticks up for what he believes in. I strongly do support Sen. Santorum.
Asked whether he supported Santorum's views on lesbian and gay issues, Traynham told PageOneQ, "Sen. Santorum is a family man. I have been with him for eight years and I am very proud to be with him."
The two-term senator is up for reelection next year. His expected Democratic opponent is State Treasurer Robert P. Casey, Jr.
Traynham began working for Santorum since 1997 as a press assistant and then deputy press secretary. He was press secretary for the senator's 2000 reelection campaign in Pennsylvania. Just prior to becoming communications director in the Senate office, Traynham served as director of communications for the Senate Republican Conference.
Traynham holds a bachelor of arts degree in political science from Cheyney University of Pennsylvania, where he currently serves on the Council of Trustees.
In supporting the Federal Marriage Amendment, which would prohibit gay marriage, Santorum has equated homeland security with the sanctity of traditional marriage. He has referred to gay marriage as "messing with the basic family unit."
During an interview with The Associated Press two years ago about a challenge to the constitutionality of Texas's sodomy law, Santorum said that if the Supreme Court allows gay sex at home (which it ultimately did), "you have the right to bigamy, you have the right to incest, you have the right to adultery. You have the right to anything."
On the marriage issue, Santorum also said: "In every society, the definition of marriage has not ever to my knowledge included homosexuality. That's not to pick on homosexuality. It's not, you know, man on child, man on dog, or whatever the case may be."
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© 2005, The Philadelphia Inquirer.
Visit Philadelphia Online, the Inquirer's World Wide Web site, at http://www.philly.com
Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Information Services.
Cheney most certainly HAS hired his daughter. She was prominent in his re-election campaign.
No, the question is why you approve Democrats for political motives outing private members of staffs.
The question is why you seem unable to comprehend that a person can be a conservative Republican best qualified for a position, hired to staff, without their sexuality being a sore reflection of ones religious beliefs. One has nothing to do with the other.
At least I've gotten somewhere. You still haven't answered my very first question to you:
"Now are you saying that NO conservative can associate with ANY homosexual and still be a "real, true" conservative?"
Answer that YES OR NO.
What would you have Santorum do? Stone him?
I hope you're not as ugly a person as your post implies.
That's what upsets me. This should not be political and it is being used only to rile up the far right.
It just shouldn't be an issue if someone is gay, especially in the workforce. Just as they shouldn't be treated differently under the law. Killing a gay man should be no less or more a crime than killing a straight man.
I don't recall saying anything about running into any streets.
I don't think homosexuality is compatible with conservatism. It's entirely contradictory. Conservatism is about preserving past values and slowly accepting (after reflection and testing) new ideas that come around.
Since homosexuality is destructive of human beings, then there can be no acceptance of homosexuality by conservatism. Conservatives are truly compassionate by this attitude. The destructive attitude is the one that tells these children of God that they should just go ahead engaging in their physiologically destructive behavior.
But...you already knew that. So, are you interested in reflection or are you just trying to take a scalp, get even, etc?
In any case, feel free to have the last word. I have to go to my grandson's first birthday party.
see #112
I wouldn't be too concerned.
The Dems tried this during the '04 campaign.
It only rallied conservatives, Christian and otherwise, even further to Bush and Cheney's side.
It won't work as they hope with Santorum either.
Proverbs 6:16-19 tells us what God hates:
There are six things the LORD hates,
seven that are detestable to him:
haughty eyes,
a lying tongue,
hands that shed innocent blood,
a heart that devises wicked schemes,
feet that are quick to rush into evil,
a false witness who pours out lies
and a man who stirs up dissension among brothers.
I don't see homosexuality in the list. I know it shows up elsewhere as a sin, but certainly not among the chiefest.
It was PRIDE that got satan kicked out of heaven.
But for the Catholics/Christians defending Santorum's actions in this case, it's all about politics. Otherwise they wouldn't be typing things like, "You just want Santorum to lose, etc." That's one of my problems with it.
Aren't there seven things on that list?
I have said that homosexuality is imcompatible with conservatism....(Andrew Sullivan is a case in point.)
Of course I think conservatives can associate with homosexuals. I just don't think homosexuals can ever be conservatives....it's a contradiction in terms.
Also, I think conservative institutions, politicians, etc., should be able to hire those of like mind to themselves. I think there's good reason for them to want people who match their philosophy in their top leadership positions.
Now, I've really got to go.
Enjoy.
YES OR NO.
Are you saying that people who don't hate homoseuxals cannot be conservatives?
Perhaps you shouldn't be so quick to make accusations you'll find untrue if you merely investigated the matter a bit more.
I went after Alan Keyes when he attacked Mary Cheney in an election year. I'll go after anyone that engages in this practice. Good Grief, you know how many defended Hillary when Drudge had that headline from Klein's book that she was gay?
You are wrong about the political motivations at play on the right.
Yes, it would cause him all kinds of deadly health risks. Anyone who cares for their grandkids would hope the same thing.
The health risks of the homosexual lifestyle are well documented. I've pinged some who will point you to the links.
And if he is gay?
The point still being Sen, Santorum is one of the politcians talking against the radical homosexual agenda.
Like I said before if Mr. Traynham wasn't happy working for Sen. Santorum, he could have left long ago.
Did it ever occur to you that Sen. Santorum may have an influence over Mr. Traynham, such as if he didn't work for Sen. Sabtorum, he could be reveling in the promiscuous sex meth culture that is so pervasive in liberal radical homosexual circles.
So, as my response above makes more clear that the double negative question that is asked, the answer is NO. ("Now are you saying that NO conservative can associate with ANY homosexual and still be a "real, true" conservative?" )
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