Wednesday October 27, 2010
Alaska Senate Candidate Joe Miller Endorses Federal Same-Sex 'Marriage' Ban
By Peter J. Smith
FAIRBANKS, Alaska, October 27, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Alaska GOP Senate candidate Joe Miller stated recently that he would support a U.S. constitutional amendment defining marriage as the union of a man and a woman, although he would prefer the matter left to the states.
Miller, a pro-life candidate running neck-and-neck with incumbent and write-in candidate Lisa Murkowski for U.S. Senator, told MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow that he would support a constitutional amendment, if that were seen as the solution to the challenge of legal same-sex “marriage.”
Maddow, who is a self-identified lesbian, asked Miller about his position on gay rights and then specifically asked about his thoughts on a campaign employee who thought homosexuality could be treated or changed.
Addressing her first point, Miller emphasized that issues related to homosexuality “are really a state issue” and indicated they should be handled at a state, not federal level.
Miller said Terry Moffitt had worked with his primary campaign, but he had not seen the website HopeforHomosexuals.com and was unable to comment on it.
Maddow then asked if Miller agreed that homosexuality is a choice.
“I think that's up to the individual. The individual has to make that decision,” Miller replied.
When pressed by Madow as to whether he believed that a person has a choice whether or not to be gay, Miller brouhg the issue back to politics, saying that “My perspective is that at core, it is a state issue, but there are federal issues intertwined.”
He emphasized that policy changes regarding marriage should be kept close to the people at the state level.
Maddow then asked if he would vote for a constitutional amendment banning same-sex “marriage.”
"That's up to the people," Miller said, stressing that it would have to be a constitutional amendment. "If you get a three-quarters vote ratifying – I'd vote for it. I would."
Miller also told Maddow in the course of the interview that social issues are very close to his campaign and stated he is the “only unequivocal pro-life candidate in this race.”
The rest of the segment can be viewed here.