There appears to be a pattern developing regarding the allegedly anti-gay views of Florida Republican legislator D. Alan Hays:
As health-care advocates Friday called for a range of sanctions against state Rep. D. Alan Hays, the Umatilla Republican again refuted accusations that he said his gay cousin deserved to die after contracting the virus that causes AIDS.
…
Minutes after the conference, Hays released a statement denying that he told two nurses and a regional manager for a nonprofit AIDS health-care program Wednesday that his cousin was “queer as a three-dollar bill” and “had that homosexual lifestyle and deserved what he got.”
Hays denies making the statement, saying that while he’s “known for being plain-spoken” and speaking his mind, he is outraged that people are “making these claims against me.”
Of course, people might be more inclined to believe him had he not been accused of making another anti-gay remark earlier this year … which he also denied making:
But Wednesday’s accusation is the second time this year Hays has come under fire in public for anti-gay slurs. During debate over an anti-bullying bill in March, several students said Hays told them they needed psychological treatment because they’re gay.
At the time, The Fort Myers News-Press reported that Hays confirmed his meeting with the students and commenting about them needing psychological treatment. But it also reported that Hays couldn’t recall saying he was “repulsed” by homosexuals, which the students claimed at the time.
“The best way that I can explain that [is] I asked them if they wanted to know what I thought and they said ‘yes, they did,’ and I told them what I thought,” Hays said Friday. “They too made false accusations about me.”
Hays said Friday he couldn’t remember precisely what he told the students.
Remarkable. Apparently there is some conspiracy afoot whereby two separate and completely unrelated groups have just decided to falsely accuse Hays of making off-the-cuff anti-gay statements. What are the chances of that?
