This article is more than 10 years old. See today’s top stories here.

Let's Not Forget About Rick Santorum's Thoughts On Sex

Let's Not Forget About Rick Santorum's Thoughts On Sex
Paige Lavender
By 

News Director, HuffPost

Former Sen. Rick Santorum (R-Pa.) formally enters the 2016 GOP presidential primary Wednesday, embarking on his second White House run.

Santorum's made sure to stay in the headlines between presidential bids, offering up commentary on everything from the Islamic State to immigration to President Barack Obama.

Santorum admitted that saying "dumb things" during his 2012 campaign fueled his eventual loss. But as HuffPost pointed out in 2011, Santorum's controversial thoughts on issues related to sex, marriage and contraception spanned all the way back to at least 2003.

Below, a look back at some of Santorum's past statements on sex:

On Contraception
"It's not okay. It's a license to do things in a sexual realm that is counter to how things are supposed to be."Think Progress, 2011
On The Definition Of Marriage
"Marriage is what marriage is. Marriage existed before there was a government."It's like handing up this and saying this glass of water is a glass of beer. Well you can call it a glass of beer, it's not a glass of beer, it's a glass of water. And water is what water is. Marriage is what marriage is.""I can call this napkin a paper towel, but it is a napkin. Why? Because it is, what it is."Iowa Independant, 2011Think Progress, 2011MSNBC, 2011
On Sex In The Military
ASSOCIATED PRESS
"I -- I would say, any type of sexual activity has absolutely no place in the military. And the fact that they're 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 -- 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, and that is to defend our country." Fox News, 2011
On Gays In The Military
Getty
"The problem is that sexual activity with people who you are in close quarters with who happen to be of the same sex is different than being open about your sexuality ... They're in close quarters, they live with people, they obviously shower with people."HuffPost, 2011
On Polygamy, Bigamy, Adultery...
Alamy
"If the Supreme Court says that you have the right to consensual sex within your home, then you have the right to bigamy, you have the right to polygamy, you have the right to incest, you have the right to adultery. You have the right to anything."Associated Press, 2003
On The Difference Between Being Black And Being Gay

"You are black by the color of your skin. You are not homosexual, necessarily -- obviously, by the color of your skin. [...] The idea that being black and being gay is the same is simply not true..."Fox News, 2011
On Candidates' Sex Lives
"When you look at someone to determine whether they'd be the right person for public office, look at who they lay down with at night and what they believe in."Talking Points Memo, 2011
On 'Man On Dog'
Alamy
"In every society, the definition of marriage has not ever to my knowledge included homosexuality. That's not to pick on homosexuality. It's not, you know, man on child, man on dog, or whatever the case may be. It is one thing."Associated Press, 2003
On Sodomy, Adultery, Polygamy...
Alamy
"Whether it's polygamy, whether it's adultery, whether it's sodomy, all of those things, are antithetical to a healthy, stable, traditional family."Associated Press, 2003
On The Government Getting Up In Your Sex Life
"The idea is that the state doesn't have rights to limit individuals' wants and passions -- I disagree with that. I think we absolutely have rights because there are consequences to letting people live out whatever wants or passions they desire. And we're seeing it in our society."Associated Press, 2003
On Gay Marriage
AP
"This is an issue just like 9-11 ... We didn't decide we wanted to fight the war on terrorism because we wanted to. It was brought to us. And if not now, when?""The battle we're engaged in right now on same-sex marriage, ultimately that is the very foundation of our country, the family, what the family structure is going to look like. I'll die on that hill fighting."The Morning Call, 2004Think Progress, 2011
On Being A Hater
AP
"You can say I'm a hater. But I would argue I'm a lover. I'm a lover of traditional families and of the right of children to have a mother and father ... Isn't that the ultimate homeland security, standing up and defending marriage?"Pittsburg Post Gazette, 2011
On The Gay Jihad
ASSOCIATED PRESS
"So the gay community said, 'He's comparing gay sex to incest and polygamy, how dare he do this,' and they have gone out on a, I would argue, jihad against Rick Santorum since then."The Hill, 2011

A version of this slideshow was originally published in November 2011.

|
Submit a tip
Close

What's Hot