Mike Huckabee Compares Same-Sex Adoption To Experimentation: 'Children Are Not Puppies'

Former Arkansas governor and one-time presidential candidate Mike Huckabee has never been a huge champion of gay rights, but in a recent interview he went so far as to equate gay marriage with drug abuse and gay adoption to a science experiment.

During a conversation with the College of New Jersey's student publication, the Perspective, Huckabee reiterated his support for an Arkansas law that would ban same-sex couples from adopting children.

"I think this is not about trying to create statements for people who want to change the basic fundamental definitions of family," Huckabee, a Southern Baptist minister, said.

"Children are not puppies," he continued. "This is not a time to see if we can experiment and find out, how does this work?"

Huckabee was similarly dismissive of same-sex marriage and even civil unions, which he called "not necessary."

"You don't go ahead and accommodate every behavioral pattern that is against the ideal," Huckabee said when asked about same-sex marriage. "That would be like saying, well, there are a lot of people who like to use drugs, so let's go ahead and accommodate those who want who use drugs. There are some people who believe in incest, so we should accommodate them. There are people who believe in polygamy, so we should accommodate them."

Comments

[mightyxmouse13]

04:52 PM on 05/09/2010

This isn't even just a conservative point of view, its just insane. I know plenty of conservatives who think there is nothing wrong with being gay and even a few that support gay marriage. This guy has clearly gone off the deep end. Its awful that there are still such close minded and even cruel people!!

[mag68]

09:28 PM on 04/21/2010

....Cuz if they were puppies they'd be hanging from a tree in your front yard....

[Andrew Perkins]

08:19 PM on 04/17/2010

A marriage is a contract, and contracts are valid between two consenting adults. Comparing gay marriage to bestiality is not parallel because animals can't enter into contracts. Comparing it to polygamy is not parallel because a contract is between two people. Comparing it to incest is not parallel because children can't consent. I can't even see the comparison between gay marriage and drug use.

[USABrazil]

08:32 PM on 04/16/2010

In the same line of thinking of Mr. Arkansas...

"I think this is not about trying to create statements for people who want to change the basic fundamental definitions of family,"

I will stick with my neanderthal club aside as I flirt with someone...I HAY-te any adapting of the ever changing social parameters...

Being Gay does not qualify no one to be a parent, as does not disqualify....It have to be on case-by-case basis just like any adoptions...So obvious...

[Proud Bay Man]

02:36 AM on 04/16/2010

OK, this man is clearly gay. The louder they yell, the far more likely they are closeted. Besides, he's the spitting image of Jim Nabors.

[USABrazil]

08:39 PM on 04/16/2010

It does not play any role his supposed gay sexual lifestyle...It just plain ignorant, gay or not....
What is important to me is to find out if he is ignorant, or if he just play the ignorant card because his constituency...

[NWBrunette]

01:24 AM on 04/16/2010

"Children are not puppies." Okay. And repubs are allergic to neurons. Yeah, now that the bases are covered can we move on to something more interesting?

[PinkoPanther]

12:02 AM on 04/16/2010

Actually, I'm just fine with legalizing drugs and polygamy too... and I think my pets are just as valuable to me as children... So whatever Huckabee's point is supposed to be... it's lost on me.

[Marconiusrex24]

07:51 PM on 04/15/2010

Huckabee: “You don’t go ahead and accommodate every behavioral pattern that is against the ideal,” he said of same-sex marriage." Right out of the Hitler playbook!

[nanjemoy]

06:56 PM on 04/14/2010

The great thing about Huckabee is how civil his endorsement of bigotry is.

But there is one area where I think he is right. The institution of marriage in the US is redefined by gay marriage laws.

Not long ago it was: Two People - Consenting - Adults* - of Opposite Sex - Same Race**.
Recently the rules were: Two People - Consenting - Adults - of Opposite Sex.
Now the rules are becoming: Two People - Consenting - Adults.

These follow a Liberal ideal that is at the foundation of this country: that the individual has the sovereign right to freely associate. Obviously that ideal is at odds with other ideals the country was founded on. But in this case, thankfully, personal liberty is winning the day.

Unlike the right, for whom personal liberty issues are about guns, Christian religion, taxes, and fear of internationalism, the left has followed personal liberty in areas of love, pleasure, other religions, and personal expression. Sorry if that seems an unfair characterization, I'm trying to be fair.

I, for one, would be ok to see marriage redefined further to be: Consenting - Adults. But we have a long way before that.

[Marconiusrex24]

08:06 PM on 04/16/2010

Good response. I've always said this to cover my bases with human sexuality. Anything that happens between two (or more) consenting ADULT human beings, who are NOT related, that does not cause irreparable physical or emotional damage to any involved party is OK with me!

Now I would not carry the ..."or more" to marriage, but the rest of it basically covers my idea of what marriage should cover.

[RatPack78]

06:16 PM on 04/14/2010

If gay couples adopting is an "experiment," then the experiment is going pretty darn well and has been for decades. Numerous studies have shown children do just as well with same-sex parents than they do with opposite sex parents. Personally, I know a gay couple who provide the most loving and supportive home I have ever seen for their son. The gender of the parents is meaningless: it's the quality of the home the parents provide.

[scottyknows]

05:54 PM on 04/14/2010

I can't imagine a less loving idea than putting a child in a home with two homosexual men or women and forcing them to believe that it's a perfectly normal relationship while having to repress the fact that every part of their being is telling them it is not.

[bobojack1]

06:00 PM on 04/14/2010

It is a shame that you are so ignorant! You must not have had any puppies growing up.

[RatPack78]

06:20 PM on 04/14/2010

I can't imagine a less loving idea than putting a child in a home with an ignorant bigot like you scotty. Try educating yourself on the issue rather than regurgitating the prejudice you feed yourself with. Gay couples provide excellent, loving homes, and I know several that exemplify that.

[smile13]

03:35 PM on 04/14/2010

Didn't one of his kids get in trouble for abusing a dog in the last few years? Fact..a person who abuses animals will abuse children. I guess his kid shouldn't have either.

[smile13]

03:41 PM on 04/14/2010

http://www.newsweek.com/id/78241

[steven1534]

08:34 PM on 04/14/2010

Wow. If thats not some horse sh*t....I don't know what is!

[mag68]

09:32 PM on 04/21/2010

theres a terrible mental illness and sadism that runs in that family

[MNKen]

10:21 AM on 04/14/2010

"That would be like saying, well, there are a lot of people who like to use drugs, so let's go ahead and accommodate those who want who use drugs...incest...polygamy..."

There are other people who like to use religion to justify bigotry and you seem to think that is acceptable.

[madisonhack]

10:01 AM on 04/14/2010

He isn't much of a bass player, either.

[MissingAmerica]

09:59 AM on 04/14/2010

Every time I start to have a little respect for this guy he says something stupid again. This is a corker! How inhuman, rude, disrespectful, hateful and, especially, totally STUPID! Said it before, say it again: "Love is not gender specific!" True love is an emotion which every animal in this world enjoys, something every creature feels but leave it to humans to put a label on something beautiful. Beautiful humans call it love; leave it to a GOP to allude to it as some sort of reckless endangerment. Personally, I know of three gay couples who have adopted children who are happy, well-adjusted and beautiful. How dare he use generalities which label these loving, loved children as fodder for the Humane Society. They were adopted through a legitimate adoption service which had nothing to do with the ASPCA! Use your brain and your heart, Mike, if you have one left.

[Jimboy17]

10:03 AM on 04/14/2010

Gay parrot couples adopt orphan birds in the wild, too, apparently. It isn't specific to our species.