No one predicted that the man who once compared gay sex to
bestiality and pedophilia, who had lost reelection to the U.S. Senate by 18
points in 2006, would upset the monied juggernaut Mitt Romney campaign in
state after state. LGBT activists always doubted Santorum could ever beat
Romney, however what’s most shocking to them aren’t his chances of
winning the nomination but that he can win anything at all.
“You could knock me over with a drop of Santorum. I
am completely blown away by this,” Dan Savage, the mastermind of the
Google-bomb that forever redefined Rick’s last name, told The Advocate’s Lucas Grindley. Savage, who had dismissed
Santorum’s Iowa win as a chance for more moderate voters in other states
to prove his views are big political losers, remains baffled by
Santorum’s success continuing, “Whatever it is, it’s
terrifying.”
Grindley points out that what is most
worrisome is that Santorum’s public statements show he goes further than
any other candidate in campaigning against LGBT people under the banner of
“religious freedom.” Not only is he the only candidate to claim
that amending the Constitution would retroactively invalidate marriages of
same-sex couples, he once explained the difference between God-given rights and
government-given rights.
In Rick Santorum’s view of the world, God has not
given gay, bisexual, or transgender people any rights, Grindley continues. Instead, Obama and his
liberal supporters have extended those rights in violation of God’s law
and the religious beliefs of people like Santorum. In Santorum’s mind,
Obama and the Democrats have played God, and that’s why they are to blame
for the downfall of society.
Many on the right and in the GOP, however, praise and
support Santorum for sticking to his socially conservative convictions. A
high-level Republican strategist with experience in big campaigns sees this as
winning leadership points for the candidate. Joe
Solmonese, outgoing president of the Human Rights Campaign, tends to
agree. “He absolutely represents people,” says Solmonese.
“The problem with him is, he is true to his convictions. He means what he
says, and that should give us reason to be deeply concerned and afraid about
the prospect of Rick Santorum.”
Even LGBT conservatives are wary of a Santorum nomination,
which Jimmy LaSalvia, executive
director for the gay conservative group GOProud, says would be
“disastrous” for his party. “If he is the nominee,”
LaSalvia predicts with alarm, “the Obama-Santorum outcome will make
Reagan-Mondale look like a squeaker.” LaSalvia, a loyal Republican and
Romney supporter, doesn’t mince words except when asked whether GOProud
could endorse a ticket that included Santorum’s name. “It would be
a referendum on the most outdated and wrong beliefs of some
conservatives.”
