Santorum rips gay sex ruling

The Tribune-Democrat ^ | 6/28/03 | Kirk Swauger

[I_Love_My_Husband]

Santorum rips gay sex ruling

By KIRK SWAUGER, THE TRIBUNE-DEMOCRAT

June 28, 2003

U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum is sharply criticizing a Supreme Court decision outlawing a Texas anti-sodomy law, saying in a local visit it will open the door to same-sex marriages. Measuring his words carefully after coming under fire for attacking homosexuals two months ago, Santorum, R-Pittsburgh, said the court redefined sexual mores. “We have now laid the framework for rewriting marriage statutes across the country,” Santorum said during a stop in Westmont for the 10th anniversary of a job training and placement program for veterans. He called the ruling unfortunate.

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled 6-3 on Thursday that gays and lesbians have a right to privacy and dignity in their personal lives, striking down laws that declare sex between gay adults criminal. In concluding that the Constitution prohibits singling out gays on moral grounds, the court voided laws in Texas and 12 other states.

The majority of the court determined the issue was not whether states could ban particular sex acts, but whether laws may treat gays with contempt. The laws “demean the lives of homosexual persons” and are a form of “state-sponsored condemnation,” Justice Anthony M. Kennedy said. But, Santorum said, instead of basing its decision solely on constitutional grounds, the court went a step further by overturning the Texas statute.

“The right to privacy, up until yesterday, was within marriage,” said Santorum, sporting a blue tie with yellow elephants. “They have now changed it to consenting adults. “I think most Americans would find that to be a very broad reading of the Constitution.” Now, Santorum said, “nobody can regulate anything” when it comes to consensual sex. In April, Santorum was lambasted for equating gay relationships with bestiality and with priests molesting teenagers.

In an interview with The Associated Press earlier this month, Santorum said he feared moral repercussions if the Supreme Court struck down Texas’ anti-sodomy law. Making homosexual sex legal, Santorum said, would mean “you have the right to consensual 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. You have the right to do anything. Does that undermine the fabric of our society? I would argue yes, it does.

“Whether it’s polygamy, whether it’s adultery, whether it’s sodomy, all of those things are antithetical to a healthy, stable, traditional family,” he added. Santorum said the sexual abuse scandal rocking the Roman Catholic Church was spurred by tolerance of homosexuality among adults. “In areas where you have that as an accepted lifestyle, don’t be surprised that you get more of it.”

The Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation is pleased with the Supreme Court’s decision. In a news release on the alliance’s Web site, Executive Director Joan M. Garry said the Supreme Court’s decision marks a turning point in its civil rights movement and a victory for all Americans. “In stating that gay and lesbian people ‘are entitled to respect for their private lives,’ Justice Kennedy’s majority opinion today affirms our dignity and humanity in a way we hope others will follow,” Garry said. “Make no mistake, there is much work ahead of us. And our community must continue to change hearts, minds, and laws as we continue down the road to equality.” The alliance does not have a representative in the Johnstown region.

In April, some Democrats and advocacy groups for gays and lesbians demanded Santorum’s resignation or ouster from his third-ranking post among GOP leadership in the Senate. Santorum was honored yesterday in Westmont for his efforts on behalf of Vietnam Veterans Leadership Program/Veteran Community Initiatives.

n the decade since he sponsored the program, $3.4 million in federal subsidies have helped 2,500 veterans and their families in the Southern Alleghenies region. “They have a population that has some unique needs,” said Santorum, whose parents both worked for more than 40 years for the Veterans Administration. “These are veterans working with veterans.”

[I_Love_My_Husband]

Maybe O'Connor will step down and Bush could put in someone much more conservative?

[Ferret Fawcet]

Bless Santorum, but the battle has been lost. I have since given up hope for mankind to wake up to the evil amongst us. It's a lost cause. The Bible predicted this when he said the road to destruction would be wide and broad. If you are a believer in Revelations and Armageddon as I am, you know God will remember the people who stood up for his word (who will be in the minority) in the the final battle of good vs evil. It is my only comfort now in this wicked system we are living under now.

Amen. Keep looking up.

[Mark17]

I feel like the homo lobby is unstoppable :(

I think you are right. We are doing our best however. Don't give up, don't ever give up. I am glad I still have a country to move to, if things really get out of hand.

[I_Love_My_Husband]

You're right.

I was just sitting here feeling very depressed, but the bad guys aren't going to get me down.

Our side still has HOPE that things will get better. We have Santorum! We have morals on our side!

Good WILL eventually win out (I hope!).

[StayoutdaBushesWay]

This is what Bravo network is premiering next month!!

[bluebunny]

You'll be waiting a long time, my dear. After seeing what the Bush adminstration has been doing lately in the name of the "inclusive" big tent, I don't think you will get it. I have a suspicion that we are going to get disappointed by ye another Bush.

[BlueNgold]

Santorum is right. This is going to open the floodgates for all sorts of stuff we've been trying to keep under control, like prostitution and pedophelia.

This is absolutely silly, laughable, and more to the point, wrong. Pedophilia has NOTHING to do with a ruling that addresses private acts between consenting adults. Such extreme statements are the kind that gives the left ammunition when stating that the religious right is trying to impose their religious moral ethic on the nation.

As for prostitution, I have long held that if Roe is to be interpreted as recognizing the right to bodily privacy and control under the 9th ammendment then prostitution must be legalized to apply the decision equitably. Lawrence makes the case even more clearly. Such is the nature of the law of unintended consequences.

However, this is nation of laws not of religions. The constitutional separation of church and state in part guarantees that a dominant religion cannot become a defacto national religion. One of the inherent problems with this is that we fight tooth and nail to keep the government out of our religions, yet we all too often insist that the government answer to our religious ideals. To be effective within a free government the church must recognize and respect the separation as equally as they expect the government to do so. The church must uphold it's end of the 1st Ammendment separation. There will forver be times when the government, in it's obligation to serve ALL citizens equally, must hold the basic moral ethics of judeo-christian theology at arms length.

[bluebunny]

ye was supposed to be yet

[speedy]

You may be in the one city where it is more prevalent than here. The openness of the public acts has gotten much more noticeable even over the past few years. Plus it seems like half the plays on and off Broadway involve some homosexual issue (always sympathetic, of course.) I have noticed that in private conversations, heterosexuals -- who after all, even in New York, are still a large majority -- are becoming more open about expressing irritation with the gay agenda. But no question, the loafers are lighter than ever this week in Chelsea and The Village.

[nravoter]

To allow the moral indignation of a majority (or, even worse, a loud and/or radical minority) to justify criminalizing private consensual conduct would be a strike against freedoms paid for and preserved by our forefathers.

And yet, I'd bet that those to whom you were speaking would be among the first to claim they're agaist "big government", excessive regulation, and encroachments on individual liberty.

[steve86]

He is gorgeous

Ick, don't use that word gorgeous. Find a good wholesome book or video and don't be tempted to go outside until it cools off later.

[F16Fighter]

"I'd like to see him hold a seminar for FREEPERS. They need to learn what conservatism is."

Heh -- agreed...

Three decades of intense liberal indoctrination and moral relativism have taken their toll as is observed by the number of well-meaning RINOs fluttering about.

[Polycarp]

You are far more charitable than I, for I do not see any RINOs as "well-meaning."

[Geezerette]

I sincerely agree with you! This past week, the "supreme" court dealt this country another death blow. That and the abortion scourge has really hastened America's judgement, I am certain.

g

[Polycarp]

Related: George F. Will: Lap dancing may become next right (or, "Lap Dancing on the Constitution")

[F16Fighter]

"You are far more charitable than I, for I do not see any RINOs as 'well-meaning.'"

Ok, check that. Maybe RINOs are indeed "misguided nitwits" instead?? ;-)

[Mark17]

Good WILL eventually win out (I hope!).

Well, eventually it will, but check out the book of revelation, to see what a hassle the world will go through, before good finally wins out.

[rintense]

Making homosexual sex legal, Santorum said, would mean “you have the right to consensual 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. You have the right to do anything. Does that undermine the fabric of our society? I would argue yes, it does.

And herein lies the problem. While I support the decision for the government to stay out of bedrooms, this ruling will snowball into much more than intended, with folks (as stated in the out take above) believing they have *rights* to things that are not guaranteed by the Constitution. And based on what the SCOTUS ruled yesterday, I am very wary that culture has invaded law- forever.