Republican Debate Audience Boos Gay Soldier Stephen Hill After DADT Repeal Question (VIDEO)

During the Republican debate Thursday night, host Megyn Kelly dropped a YouTube clip on Rick Santorum: a question from Stephen Hill, a soldier in Iraq who, up until this week, had to "lie about who [he] was" in order to serve in the army.

Santorum provided Hill no succor, saying that the repeal of "don't ask, don't tell" injected "social engineering" into the military.

SANTORUM: I would say any type of sexual activity has absolutely no place in the military. The fact they are making a point to include it as a provision within the military that we are going to recognize a group of people and give them a special privilege to, and removing don't ask don’t tell. I think tries to inject social policy into the military. And the military's job is to do one thing: to defend our country...

KELLY: What would you do with soldiers like Stephen Hill?

SANTORUM: What we are doing is playing social experimentation with our military right now. That’s tragic. I would just say that going forward we would reinstitute that policy if Rick Santorum was president. That policy would be re-instituted as far as people in, I would not throw them out because that would be unfair to them because of the policy of this administration. But we would move forward in conformity with what was happening in the past. Which was- sex is not an issue. It should not be an issue. Leave it alone. Keep it to yourself whether you are heterosexual or homosexual.

Of course, the big news of the exchange will once again be about an audience reaction. After Fox cut back from the clip of Hill, several members of the audience were heard, in a shocking demonstration of disrespect for one of our soldiers, lustily booing him. Very sad.

Sidenote: Fred Karger responded to that exchange by telling the Huffington Post, "Santorum is truly nuts. Just Google him. Congress repealed DADT. Federal court found it unconstitutional."

UPDATE: After the debate, Talking Points Memo reporter Evan McMorris-Santoro caught up with Jon Huntsman. When asked about the incident, Huntsman said the booing was "unfortunate." McMorris-Santoro also talked to a Perry representative, who used similar language, calling it "very unfortunate."

Comments

[carolla7411]

03:07 PM on 10/31/2011

That's a good idea they should do this in all countries put them all in one place out of the main stream of society

[carolla7411]

02:55 PM on 10/31/2011

rite on

[Gestas]

12:40 PM on 10/29/2011

Compassionate Capitalism...To think people still risk thier lives for it.

[Lordcron]

04:17 AM on 10/29/2011

Are you really expecting sanity in that audience?........ Really!?

[Vicki Flaherty]

12:40 PM on 10/28/2011

Come on ! They( GOP) were booing the Gay Soilder and IT, speaks voliums on this and other policies ,such as Health Care 1!!!

[DickClark]

09:44 AM on 10/28/2011

......."Unfortunate" from moderate Republicans.......

..................That says it all for where they stand on this issue ..............

..................Don't forget at election time next year.................................

[aar0tc]

09:53 PM on 10/30/2011

Right ! !
It's time for a CLEAN SWEEP ~~~
I think most of 'em have juggled enough to retire in COMFORT ! ! ;(

[Nelson Montana]

04:22 PM on 10/27/2011

So essentially Santorum is saying that sexual preference should not be an issue and the military is not a platform for social commentary, YET, if a soldier is found out to be gay he's saying that they SHOULD NOT be discharged. What's the problem with that? I agree.

[madkoz]

03:50 PM on 10/27/2011

The hetero men complaining about openly gay soldiers should be thankful that someone in America is man enough to volunteer to serve since they sure weren't.

[madkoz]

03:47 PM on 10/27/2011

In the middle east Santorum would have a long beard and lots of crazed followers.

[amaboss52]

04:09 PM on 10/27/2011

I thought he already had that!

[kathy smelser]

01:03 PM on 10/28/2011

he also could have 15 wives and 90 kids building his own little army getting ready for the all time battle ie what is better my dog or your dog

[Counterglow]

03:46 PM on 10/27/2011

"SANTORUM: I would say any type of sexual activity has absolutely no place in the military..."

So Santorum believes that being openly gay means a soldier will inevitably be sexually active? If he doesn't, what's the big deal? Why would a gay soldier be any more likely to be sexually active than one who isn't?

[Nelson Montana]

04:22 PM on 10/27/2011

Um, because he sleep with other men?

[Counterglow]

05:30 PM on 10/27/2011

Um, there's no women in the armed services? Um, homosexuals have less self-control than heterosexuals? Um? Um um?

[happyphace]

04:19 PM on 10/29/2011

Sad thing about you is that you don't even realize it when you make a homophobic comment. Your generalized assumption that because a gay man is in the same sleeping quarters as other men..that will result in sex is like saying. When black people hear rhythmic music they all start dancing. Gay men have been sleeping in the same quarters with other men since the military originated. They just weren't out and open.

[camelias and sweet tea]

04:39 PM on 10/27/2011

Because he probably knows very little, if anything at all about gays...

[Counterglow]

05:32 PM on 10/27/2011

Based on what we've seen from others of his ilk, somewhere in his deepest, darkest fantasies, Santorum probably wants to know more...much more (snicker).

[pynecastle]

09:52 PM on 10/28/2011

...or sex.

[vanhellslinger]

10:43 PM on 10/06/2011

If you had only two choices, One to be an Al Qaeda operative and the other choice was to be a gay male, which would you choose? There is no other choice one or the other? I wonder how many people would choose to be a gay man vs the other side?

[Kristen Duh]

05:21 PM on 10/05/2011

Just something for you to think about.......................

In America they first came for the homosexuals
and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a homosexual

Then they came for the Muslims,
and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Muslim.

Then they came for the illegal immigrants,
and I didn't speak up because I was born in the USA.

Then they came for the trade unionists,
and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a trade unionist.

Then they came for the protesters,
and I didn't speak up because I was a law abiding patriot.

Then they came for the progressives,
and I didn't speak up because I was a conservative.

Then they came for the non Christians,
and I didn't speak up because I was a Christian.

Then they came for the unemployed,
and I didn't speak up because I had a job.

Then they came for the poor,
and I didn't speak up because I had some money.

Then they came for the homeless,
and I didn't speak up because I owned a home.

Then they came for me —
and by that time no one was left to speak up.

[archaicarchitec1]

12:29 PM on 10/13/2011

uggggggggghhhhhhhhhh...............

[Kristen Duh]

02:48 PM on 10/13/2011

thank you, very informative

[Nelson Montana]

04:23 PM on 10/27/2011

Good one. Haven't heard that in at least 10 minutes.

[Mel RotunoJohnson]

09:23 PM on 10/03/2011

I want to puke.

[tman418]

05:44 PM on 10/03/2011

I'm not 100% certain that the boos were AT the gay soldier.

However, Santorum's response was ridiculous. "Special Privilege"? WTF? Gays are not getting anything "special." Just not being discriminated against.

[FrancineFishpaw]

01:41 PM on 10/18/2011

Um, yeah, the boos were because the soldier was gay, maybe not "at the gay soldier". It's a matter of semantics.

[Nelson Montana]

04:24 PM on 10/27/2011

But Santurum said they should NOT be discriminated against for being gay.

[urbisoler]

04:40 PM on 10/02/2011

My post was rejected by the powers that be.
The question remains: Wny, now, cannot hetero men shower with hetero women?
Please explain that to me!

[MyLeftMind]

10:32 AM on 10/03/2011

Ha, the straight men were already showering with gay men. The gay men have been there all along. The only difference now is that their FREEDOM OF SPEECH is no longer curtailed. They get to say they’re gay.

You see, now the straight people can’t oppress the gays they way they could before DADT was repealed. Poor homophobes, they can’t force gay soldiers into the closet anymore. Boo hoo.

[JSDKoeln]

08:08 AM on 10/04/2011

Because hetero räpe happens in the military. gay räpe does not. neanderthals.