Sure, the socially moderate Rudy Giuliani has tweaked his social positions to appeal to religious conservatives. He's come out in support for parental notification laws on abortion and for the Hyde amendment, which bars federal funding of abortions. But God-o-Meter found this one hard to swallow: an enthusiastic supporter of gay rights, Giuliani suggested on last Sunday's Meet the Press that he thinks homosexual acts are sinful.
Here's the somewhat convoluted exchange between Russert and Giuliani, courtesy of The New York Times' Caucus blog:
Giuliani was asked... if he agreed with the statement made in 1992 by a rival for the Republican presidential nomination, Mike Huckabee, about homosexuality being “an aberrant, unnatural, and sinful lifestyle.”“No,” Mr. Giuliani replied. “I don’t believe it’s sinful.” But he then said something that puzzled and concerned some gay rights groups.
“My moral views on this come from the, you know, from the Catholic Church, and I believe that homosexuality, heterosexuality, as a way that somebody leads their life is not, isn’t sinful,” said Mr. Giuliani, who as New York mayor temporarily moved in with two gay roommates after he separated from his wife. “It’s the acts — it’s the various acts that people perform that are sinful, not the orientation that they have.”
Mr. Giuliani added: “I’ve had my own sins that I’ve had to confess.”
The Times sought a clarification, but the Giuliani campaign declined. God-o-Meter can't help but wonder whether Giuliani misspoke or whether he really feels this way. And, if he does, whether he's told the gay couple the then-New York Mayor lived with when his divorce proceedings forced him from Gracie Mansion.
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Interesting language he uses, since the demurring on the issue by saying, "I have my own sins," is now classic among evangelicals who do not want to come across as homophobic, while still holding that homosexual acts are sinful.
Since he's said he draws his views on this from the Catholic Church (did he really mean that?), we'll keep an eye out for more Catholic language, such as describing homosexuality as a "disorder."
He's simply stating that you can be a celibate homosexual. In other words, a gay or lesbian orientation that you do not act upon.
CHRIS--I get your point, but are you surprised to hear this from a politican who does not typically cite the Roman Catholic Church as a basis for his policy postions?
If Giuliani believed that homosexuality was a sin, then he wouldn't have hired the priest Alan Placa to his law firm (Giuliani Partners). Placa has been barred from the church for molesting children. So not only is Placa guilty of homosexual acts, but he's a pedophile, too. Someone should ask Giuliani whether he supports molesting children.
I actually agree with Giuliani on most issues, but he lost me completely on this one. So, let's see if I have this "straight"...the mayor engages in an extramarital affair and there is some scuttlebut that the good taxpayers of New York got stuck with part of the bill to provide security for this clown and his mistriss. Eventually, he divorces the mother of his children so he can cling to his new "trophy wife" who's young enough to be his daughter. Somewhere in there one of the 10 Commandments was violated, was it not? Perhaps our elected officials should pass legislation that reinforces the oppression of sleazebags like him? And he has the audacity to reference scripture to pass judgement on homosexuals?
I thought Republicans were suppose to be the champions of traditional family values. He, like most Republican politicians seem to think if they throw enough stones in the direction of others perhaps we won't see them for the sleazy hypocrites that they are.
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