Steve King Reaffirms His Homophobe Cred In Spite Of His State

When it comes to right-wing nuttiness, Congressman Steve King of Iowa is right up there on the top of the list. His home state made headlines yesterday when the state's Supreme Court followed the lead of several Northeastern states and California in that bans on same-sex marriage is a violation (.pdf file) of the equal protection clause. It was a tremendous judicial victory for equal rights in a part of the country that is still behind the more progressive parts. Unfortunately, King had to sully the occasion with his own ignorant and hateful screed.

From ThinkProgress:

Rep. Steve King (R-IA) reacted with fury to the Court’s decision, calling the ruling “unconstitutional” and denigrating the “activist judges” who decided it. He called for an constitutional amendment banning gay marriage, and pressed for immediate action to prevent Iowa from becoming a “Mecca” for gay couples:

Now it is the Iowa legislature’s responsibility to pass the Marriage Amendment to the Iowa Constitution, clarifying that marriage is between one man and one woman, to give the power that the Supreme Court has arrogated to itself back to the people of Iowa. Along with a constitutional amendment, the legislature must also enact marriage license residency requirements so that Iowa does not become the gay marriage Mecca due to the Supreme Court’s latest experiment in social engineering.

ThinkProgress also made a list of other bigoted statements that show this last one is not isolated at all:

– King compared gay people to unicorns and leprechauns. “Unicorns, leprechauns, gay marriages in Iowa — these are all things you will never find because they just don’t exist.”

– King sought to uphold anti-gay employment discrimination. “The Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) would force employers to hire homosexual employees.”

– King insisted homosexuality was just a “behavior.” Declaring that “homosexual marriage is not a civil right,” King said sexual orientation “is a self-identified behavior, not an immutable characteristic.”

If there's anything positive to take from this, it is that the hatred King holds for other human beings due to their sexual orientation is something that is waning in this country. That is not to say that the upcoming battles for equality will be a walk in the park, but that over time, more people will realize that they have nothing to fear from gay people and will see that they deserve all the rights and privileges afforded to straight people.