Marco Rubio’s extreme conservative colors shined through again last night at an event for the Center for Arizona Policy. This fringe organization believes “homosexuals [can modify] their behavior and becom[e] heterosexual through Christian ministries and counseling,” better known as conversion therapy — a radical view that has been condemned by the American Psychological Associa
Despite repeated recent attempts to muddy the waters on his positions towards gay marriage and LGBT rights, this isn’t the first time Rubio has supported fanatic anti-LGBT groups like the Center for Arizona Policy. In 2013, Rubio keynoted for the Florida Family Policy Council, an organization infamous for its hate speech against the LGBT community. Rubio likes to obfuscate on LGBT rights and has not given his opinion on conversion therapy, but by supporting these organizations, his message to the voters is unequivocal.
Ironically, in the real “New American Century,” this country overwhelmingly supports equality for all — no matter their sexual orientation or gender identity. Someone should tell Marco to get with the times.
Take a look at the extreme rhetoric coming from the Rubio-supported Florida Family Policy Council below:
“You look at anything that has the world ‘gay’ on it in our culture, a gay magazine, a gay blog, a gay website, a gay parade, you name it, it’s gonna be guaranteed to be inappropriate for kids. And that’s what we’re talking about; we talking about injecting hyper-sexuality and a leftist political agenda right into the veins of the Boy Scouts and it will utterly devastate it.” John Stemberger, 5/17/2013
“These are not just people who have a same sex attraction and want to be left alone to freely define themselves. This is a radical group of political operatives who want to force their aberrant views on human sexuality upon the rest of society by the mandate and penalty of law.” John Stemberger, 8/15/2012
“Same-sex attraction has always been with us since the beginning of time. That’s nothing new. … What is new, and what is dangerous and what we oppose, is this artificial, social construct called gay. It’s in your face; it’s shoving down your throat; and it’s intimidation. It’s not just, ‘let’s be left alone and let’s just have rights.’ It’s now forcing everyone else to agree—by the force of law and lawsuits with money damages. That’s what we oppose.” John Stemberger, 6/12/2012
“And so, we have laws against suicide. Well why is that? Well because I’m connected to, a woman in a marriage, I’m connected to a family with children, I’m connected to a business, a community, an economic system. If I blow my brains out, somebody’s got to come and pay for that and clean it up. There’s a cost – to things – and we don’t just live in an isolated situation.” John Stemberger, 9/4/2008
Published: May 7, 2015