The Daily Dish | By Andrew Sullivan (September 15, 2008) - The Odd Lies Of Sarah Palin VI: Gays

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15 Sep 2008 03:47 pm

The Odd Lies Of Sarah Palin VI: Gays

When the subject of homosexuality came up, Charles Gibson asked the following question:

GIBSON: Homosexuality, genetic or learned?

PALIN: Oh, I don't -- I don't know, but I'm not one to judge and, you know, I'm from a family and from a community with many, many members of many diverse backgrounds and I'm not going to judge someone on whether they believe that homosexuality is a choice or genetic. I'm not going to judge them.

In fact, Palin does judge homosexuals in as extreme a fashion as you can imagine:

Gov. Sarah Palin's church is promoting a conference that promises to convert gays into heterosexuals through the power of prayer. "You'll be encouraged by the power of God's love and His desire to transform the lives of those impacted by homosexuality," according to the insert in the bulletin of the Wasilla Bible Church, where Palin has worshipped for about six years... She opposes gay marriage and spousal rights for gay couples. Focus on the Family, a national Christian fundamentalist organization, is conducting the "Love Won Out" Conference in Anchorage, about 30 miles from Wasilla.

There is no way that a person who is indifferent to the question of whether homosexuality is a choice or genetic can support a conference of crackpots, psychological renegades and far-right Christianists seeking to "cure" gay people. Palin is on record seeking to strip gay couples of all rights in their relationships, although she was forced by constitutional mandate to grant equal benefits to gay couples who are employees of the state government in Alaska. She supported a non-binding referendum for an Alaskan constitutional amendment to deny state health benefits to same-sex couples:

Ultimately, she said, she supports denying those [health and retirement] benefits through a constitutional amendment, if that's what the public wants.

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