RNC Chair Michael Steele tells GQ he believes that being gay isn't a choice:
"Oh, no. I don't think I've ever really subscribed to that view, that
you can turn it on and off like a water tap. Um, you know, I think that
there's a whole lot that goes into the makeup of an individual that,
uh, you just can't simply say, oh, like, 'Tomorrow morning I'm gonna
stop being gay.' It's like saying, 'Tomorrow morning I'm gonna stop
being black.'”
He also talks about same-sex marriage:
"Well, my position is, hey, look, I have been, um, supportive of a lot
of my friends who are gay in some of the core things that they believe
are important to them. You know, the ability to be able to share in the
information of your partner, to have the ability to—particularly in
times of crisis—to manage their affairs and to help them through that
as others—you know, as family members or others—would be able to do. I
just draw the line at the gay marriage. And that's not antigay, no.
Heck no! It's just that, you know, from my faith tradition and
upbringing, I believe that marriage—that institution, the sanctity of
it—is reserved for a man and a woman. That's just my view. And I'm not
gonna jump up and down and beat people upside the head about it, and
tell gays that they're wrong for wanting to aspire to that, and all of
that craziness. That's why I believe that the states should have an
opportunity to address that issue…"
He says it's a state issue:
"Absolutely. Just as a general principle, I don't like mucking around
with the Constitution. I'm sorry, I just don't. I think, you know, in a
pluralistic, dynamic society as the one that we have, every five years
you can have a constitutional convention about something, you know? I
don't think we should be, you know, dancing around and trying to amend
it every time I've got a social issue or a political issue or a
business issue that I want to get addressed. Having said that, I think
that the states are the best laboratory, the best place for those
decisions to be made, because they will then reflect the majority of
the community in which the issue is raised. And that's exactly what a
republic is all about."
The RNC head also shifts his views on abortion, saying it's a woman's right to choose:
"Yeah. I mean, again, I think that's an individual choice. […] I think Roe v. Wade—as a legal matter, Roe v. Wade was a wrongly decided matter. The states should make that choice. That's what the choice is. The individual choice rests in the states. Let them decide."
Think Progress notes the statement's shift from the past: "As recently as November 2008, he supported the GOP platform on a constitutional ban on abortion, although he was “skeptical” of tinkering with the Constitution."
All I can think is that somehow this is all gonna really piss off the leader of the Republican party Rush Limbaugh.
