by Dean Hartwell
Senator Rick Santorum, a Republican from
Pennsylvania, recently made the following comment: "...if the Supreme
Court says that you have the right to consensual [gay] sex within your home,
then...you have the right to polygamy, you have the right to incest, you have
the right to adultery..."
Apparently, the Senator tried to weigh in
with his thoughts on a current Supreme Court case, Lawrence v. Thomas.
This case raises the question as to whether gays have the right to engage in
sexual behavior in the privacy of their homes.
Santorum could have simply addressed this
issue by saying that states have the right to make laws against sodomy.
Instead, he took matters a step further by comparing homosexuality to polygamy,
incest and adultery.
There's a big difference: polygamy, incest
and adultery all have victims. Sodomy does not.
His comments now put him in a league with
Senator Trent Lott, who said a few months ago that the United States would be
better off had segregationist Strom Thurmond been elected president. Like
Lott, Santorum "outed" himself as an idiot.
Idiotic or not, the Senator has the right
to make statements like this one. Even though he serves in the Senate, he
has no obligation to give up his free speech rights under the First Amendment
to the Constitution.
But the voters should not fail their
obligation to remember what Santorum said should he seek re-election or higher
office. Those of us who oppose insensitivity to gays should state loudly
and clearly that public officials like Santorum do not deserve our support.