Bachmann on Gays

Bachmann says she isn’t running to judge gays | The Ticket - Yahoo! News

One day after winning the Iowa straw poll, Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann hedged on NBC's "Meet the Press" when host David Gregory asked about her past criticism of homosexuality.

 

Gregory played a 2004 clip of Bachmann addressing the National Education Conference when she stated that being gay is "a very sad life."

"It's part of Satan, I think, to say that this is 'gay.' It's anything but 'gay.'" She also stated that the gay lifestyle is "bondage" that leads to "personal enslavement of individuals" and is "dangerous." But she also encouraged compassion for those dealing with what she identifies as a "sexual dysfunction."

Gregory asked if these would be Bachmann's views on gays were she to win the presidency. But she dodged the question, saying "Well, I am running for the presidency of the United States. I am not running to be anyone's judge."

 Gregory pressed Bachmann, suggesting that she has, in fact, judged gays. But the congresswoman defended herself, saying of gays "I don't judge them," and adding that she accords "honor and dignity" to every person.

She also avoided Gregory's questions regarding how she believes gay Americans will react to statements such as the ones she made in 2004 to the National Education Conference. She did not offer a direct answer when Gregory asked if she would appoint someone who is openly gay to her administration, cabinet or as a federal judge, saying her litmus test for appointees would be an assessment of their constitutional principles.

Bachmann stressed her opposition to gay marriage during the interview but would not offer an opinion of a family with two gay parents.