To Republican presidential aspirant Rick Perry, using U.S. foreign aid to prevent persecution and even execution of LGBT people amounts to “promoting special rights for gays.” To Rick Santorum, another member of the GOP field, it’s promoting an agenda.
Perry issued a statement on his campaign website denouncing the landmark program unveiled by President Obama’s administration today, under which the U.S. will not withhold aid from countries that persecute gays but will assist LGBT rights organizations in those nations in fighting back.
The announcement of the strategy was followed by a speech by Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton before a United Nations gathering in Geneva, where she pointed out that around the world, LGBT people are “routinely arrested, beaten, terrorized, even executed.” She stressed that “gay rights are human rights, and human rights are gay rights.”
Perry, the governor of Texas, responded by saying, “Just when you thought Barack Obama couldn’t get any more out of touch with America’s values, AP reports his administration wants to make foreign aid decisions based on gay rights.” He said the Obama administration is making “war on traditional American values” and on “people of faith” by “promoting a lifestyle” they find “deeply objectionable.”
http://www.advocate.com/News/Daily_News/2011/12/06/Perry,_Santorum_Denounce_Call_for_Global_Gay_Rights/