Rick Perry Pressed By Bisexual Teen On Opposition To Gays In The Military (VIDEO)

Texas Gov. Rick Perry was challenged point blank in Iowa over the weekend by a bisexual teen who asked him to explain his opposition to gays serving openly in the military.

Rebecka Green, a 14-year-old who is openly bisexual according to National Journal, approached Perry while he was shaking hands and asked the presidential candidate, "I just want to know why you're so opposed to gays serving openly in the military and why you want to deny them their freedom when they're fighting for your rights."

Perry, who recently made the matter somewhat of a prominent campaign talking point when he released a now infamous ad taking aim at the repeal of "don't ask, don't tell" and other social issues, responded:

"This is about my faith, and I happen to think that there are a whole host of sins, homosexuality being one of them. And I'm a sinner, and so I'm not gonna be the person to throw a stone."

He continued, bringing up another question that had been posed to him earlier on the camaign trail:

"Just like I told the guy yesterday, he said 'How would you feel if one of your children was gay?' I said 'I'd feel the same way. I hate the sin but I love the sinner.'"

After the exchange, Green spoke with reporters to describe her disagreement.

"I'm openly bisexual and I didn't want to be told that if I wanted to serve in the military that I couldn't, and I just think [the 'don't ask, don't tell'] policy is completely ridiculous," Green said, according to National Journal. "Nobody should be able to tell somebody who they can or cannot love."

Perry's controversial ad has provided fodder to activists who disagree with his and other GOP presidential candidates' views on gay rights. Earlier this month, Perry was targeted by hecklers in Iowa who berated him for supposedly "demonizing gay and lesbian people" with the release of his much-discussed "Strong" ad.

(Video above via National Journal)

 

 

Comments

[Becky Mills Bouille]

01:09 PM on 02/02/2012

I think something very basic is being overlooked. US Constitution Amendment #1: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof." It is unconstitutional to make a law based on a religious belief because that would be establishing religion. His religious beliefs cannot run the country.

[StanleyBing]

07:49 AM on 12/29/2011

Perry's an idiot, as is the father of this little girl who would use her as a prop.

[Andrew Harrington]

10:44 PM on 12/21/2011

So, Rick Perry, a "sinner" cannot serve in the military, but a sinner can become president? Your theories are flawed. You'll never have my vote, and I'm not a sinner, thanks.

[Bucinka]

09:26 PM on 12/21/2011

Over 5300 comments. I don't have time to read them all, but I'm sure many of them cite the rumors, with supporting evidence, of Perry being on the DL. Watch out, Rick--one wrong step, and there are too many folks around who are all too willing to ruin your life with these insinuations.

[dbrns124]

09:02 PM on 12/20/2011

I got drafted in the military in the Vietnam era and was sent to the front immediately after basic training. In the middle of a vicious fire fight I decided that war was something that didn't agree with my temperment so I went to my CO and informed him that I was gay. While this was a lie it did acheive the desired result. I was immediately drummed out of the military and went on to have a very successful career in banking. My CO died in Vietnam as so many other poor unfortunate fools did. The policy of not allowing gays to serve was golden for avoiding the draft or getting out once you were in.

[dbrns124]

08:36 PM on 12/20/2011

Alexander the Great was the greatest general the world has every known but according to Rick Perry he would not be allowed to serve in our military because of his sexual persuasion. What a waste of talent that would have been.

[logger942]

05:48 AM on 12/21/2011

What do you know about Alexander's sexual preferences???

[Bucinka]

09:27 PM on 12/21/2011

Look it up. Historical evidence suggests he was bi.

[BacSi]

01:57 PM on 12/21/2011

There are informed people out there who think the US has already had a certain military service headed up by a gay man.

I am one of those that thinks this way

A very much beloved very respected real hard core warrior type of leader.

And that service is about as homophobic as they come.

[Inis Magrath]

04:18 PM on 12/20/2011

GOP -- the Gay-Obsessed Party.

[phatemu]

03:08 PM on 12/20/2011

Texas Governor and current Republican presidential candidate Rick Perry appears to have pulled something of a fast one on his state’s taxpayers by officially “retiring” earlier this year so that he could begin collecting an annual pension of $92,376 at the same time as he continues to draw his $150,000 a year salary as governor.

The arrangement went into effect last January but became public knowledge only this week, when Perry’s presidential campaign filed the personal financial disclosure statement after having previously received two successive delays.

[Cam Brunner]

03:00 PM on 12/20/2011

We are closing schools, laying people off. Families are being foreclosed on and being put out in the streets. And all the Republicans running for President can talk about is who is Gay. We need to start looking at what is best for the country. We are not in high school any more. Hello!!! It is a good way to raise money. I think the Republicans have a “gay agenda”, more than the gay community has. They have nothing to say, so they go for the gay!

[SkeeBee]

02:30 PM on 12/20/2011

Got to hand it to B-Thumper Rick, his ignorance and intoleranc­e appears to be actually legit and sincere:

He's not just saying that to appeal to red meat, fundaMenta­list, far right, trolls.
He actually IS one of them.
Kudos for having the strength of his conviction­s.
Let us be thankful for the Duhvernor being more zealot than politician­.

[PeeWeesHerman]

01:27 PM on 12/20/2011

Just a little clarity for those who say the Bible doesn't mention this--and I'm an atheist--Corithians 6:9-11 " Do not be deceived,n­either the immoral, nor idolaters,­nor adulterers­, nor effemine (malakoi) , nor homosexual offenders (arsenokoi­tes),nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards,­nor revilers,n­or robbers will inherit the kingdom of God " .

[DerekWilliams]

02:09 PM on 12/20/2011

That is a serous mistranslation. The original scriptures were written in Ancient Hebrew and Ancient Greek, in neither of which language is there a word equivalent to "homosexual', a word invented only in the 19th Century by German Psychiatry.

Not all Christians are against gays. Many religions now welcome us with open arms, open hearts and open minds. There are more than 34,000 different denominations in the world each with their own conflicting views on Birth Control and Divorce too.

Look for another translation.

Most significant is the fact that nowhere in ANY translation of the Bible does Jesus Christ ever refer to same sex relationships. Likewise, homosexuality is never mentioned in the Ten Commandments, Christ's Two Commandments, his Eight Beatitudes or his Seven Last Words on the Cross.

The Bible does however command that people who work on the Sabbath should be stoned to death, as should people who eat shellfish or pork, or children who are disobedient to their parents, and women should not teach men, nor be permitted to speak in any church.

See, people who hate us gays just hunt around in the Bible digging for dirt. They miss completely the Christian message.

I'll close with a quote from Mahatma Ganhi: "I like your Christ. I do not like your Christians. They are so unlike your Christ."

[johncopeland]

05:07 PM on 12/20/2011

WELL SAID.

[dbrns124]

08:26 PM on 12/20/2011

The old testamaent does condemn the practice and states that it is an abomination. While it makes me no difference what anyone does with their life less be honest with the facts.

[EmmaDarian]

02:51 PM on 12/20/2011

Oh, but that's Paul. He said tons of nutty things that almost all Christians ignore. Jesus said nothing about homosexuality. It's Paul or Leviticus and no one lives by all of either.

Now, if Perry wants soldiers to have to hide their supposed sins, he should listen to Jesus and demand that all soldiers who are divorced for reasons other than the two Jesus allowed for must not speak of those spouses, must not talk of their divorces, mustn't say they're remarried. That's adultery. In fact, those spouses better get no benefits, so that their sin isn't found out by their fellow soldiers.

[truth be told again]

11:14 AM on 12/20/2011

Love the religious bigot. Hate the religious bigotry.

See how this works, Ricky?

[iluvmaps]

10:52 AM on 12/20/2011

Isn't killing people also a sin? I don't think sin is the real issue here.

[truth be told again]

11:14 AM on 12/20/2011

It SHOULDN'T be - in a land that promises freedom of religion to ALL people. Ricky doesn't support THAT, though.

[BacSi]

01:17 PM on 12/20/2011

"Isn't killing people also a sin?"

Not for most religions. Not for most govts. Not for any military I know.

Its doing the killing when you do not have permission. That is the problem.

[iluvmaps]

02:09 PM on 12/20/2011

lol whose permission?

[tlgpa]

09:31 AM on 12/20/2011

I love it. Gay's can't serve openly because they "sin".
Yet Perry openly declares he's a sinner. So why is he allowed to openly serve as Govenor or President?
Pot meet Kettle.

[bobbythompson3333]

09:10 AM on 12/20/2011

14yo. He/she doesnt know what they are

[iluvmaps]

10:49 AM on 12/20/2011

Doesn't even matter. She knows wrong from right.

[truth be told again]

11:15 AM on 12/20/2011

Too bad Perry doesn't, eh?

[johncopeland]

05:11 PM on 12/20/2011

what wrong?

[BacSi]

11:03 AM on 12/20/2011

I knew at 14 that I liked women as far as a sex partner

52 years later and I still feel the same way.

Maybe you did not? Many certainly may not know for sure.

But many do.