Rick Santorum Talks Gay Marriage With Lesbian Filmmaker Kristina Lapinski
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Republican presidential hopeful Rick Santorum talked gay marriage with a lesbian filmmaker during a campaign stop in New Hampshire Thursday, telling the woman he'd love her if she were his daughter but that her attraction to women was a choice.
Kristina Lapinski -- a documentarian currently working on a project called "GAY U.S.A., The Movie" -- attended the Granite State Patriots Liberty PAC forum in hopes of gathering footage of the GOP presidential candidates for her film, according to The Advocate. She convinced the moderator to include a question on gay marriage that was directed toward Newt Gingrich and Santorum.
Gingrich affirmed his opposition to marriage equality in his answer and later mentioned to Lapinski that he would reinstate the U.S. military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy if elected president. Santorum's answer wasn't as simple, and when Lapinski approached him after the forum Santorum insisted it was her "choice" to be gay.
When asked what he would do if Lapinski were his daughter, Santorum replied, "I would love you!" He noted, though, that he would only want her to marry and have a family with a man and insisted it was Lapinski's choice to be gay.
Santorum also criticized fellow Republicans for hesitating to back his efforts to ban same-sex marriage, noting that earning their support was "one of the toughest things I had to do" as a senator. Santorum has actively voiced his opposition to same-sex marriage and has criticized other GOP presidential candidates for their views on the contentious subject.
Santorum has made his mark on American political culture with his repeated forays into the terrain of sexuality, as the slideshow below demonstrates.
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The Huffington Post Paige Lavender First Posted: 11/16/2011 1:56 pm Updated: 11/16/2011 1:56 pm