I don’t know what has gotten into Religious Right spokespeople in the last week, but twice now they have called for criminal penalties for gays simply for being gay.
Last week, the American Family Association’s Bryan Fischer declared that we should “impose the same sanctions on those who engage in homosexual behavior as we do on those who engage in intravenous drug abuse,” and force them into therapy.
And yesterday, the Family Research Council’s Peter Sprigg appeared on Hardball in opposition to repealing Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell where he declared that Lawrence v. Texas was wrongly decided and that gay behavior should be outlawed:
Matthews: Let me ask you Peter, so you think people choose to be gay.
Sprigg: People do not choose to be have same sex attractions, but they do choose to engage in homosexual conduct. And that conduct also which incidentally is against the law within the military. It violates the Uniform Code of Military Justice. It doesn’t make any sense for us to be actively recruiting people who are going to violate the Uniform Code of Military Justice.
Matthews: Do you think we should outlaw gay behavior?
Sprigg: Well I think certainly…
Matthews: I’m just asking you, should we outlaw gay behavior?
Sprigg: I think that the Supreme Court decision in Lawrence v. Texas which overturned the sodomy laws in this country was wrongly decided. I think there would be a place for criminal sanctions against homosexual behavior.
Matthews: So we should outlaw gay behavior?
Sprigg: Yes.
The last time Peter Sprigg made a statement like this, the Family Research Council forced him to quickly apologize, though I doubt they will make him do so for this statement.
More interestingly, Sprigg is also on the Board of Directors of PFOX and frequently serves as a spokesperson for the organization. Since PFOX’s mission is to encourage and support “ex-gays,” I wonder how the organization feels about Sprigg’s assertion that all of its members and activists ought to have been treated like criminals.
