Texas Governor Rick Perry allegedly compared homosexuality to alcoholism on Wednesday evening in San Francisco, California.
The San Francisco Chronicle reported that the comments were made while Perry was speaking at the Commonwealth Club. An audience member apparently asked him about the Texas Republican Party’s recently-approved platform language surrounding homosexuality and reparative therapy for it.
After Perry said he does not know if such therapy is effective, the event’s moderator reportedly asked him if he thinks homosexuality is a disorder.
“Whether or not you feel compelled to follow a particular lifestyle or not, you have the ability to decide not to do that,” Perry apparently said. “I may have the genetic coding that I’m inclined to be an alcoholic, but I have the desire not to do that, and I look at the homosexual issue the same way.”
Subsequent to a “murmur of disbelief” from the audience, Perry went on to talk about climate change and the economy.
A spokeswoman from Perry’s office told Breitbart Texas that the governor “supports traditional marriage and believes that marriage is between one man and one woman. He has been clear on his position that each state has the right to define marriage to reflect the views of its citizens.”
Perry, during his final term as governor, has spent time in California luring companies there to pack up and relocate to Texas. He has been an outspoken advocate for Texas’ low taxes, reliable regulation, and thriving job market.
He told a crowd at the Texas GOP Convention last week that Texas is home to “the best environment for job creation in the nation…More people are moving to Texas than to any other state. More than 98 percent of all Texas jobs pay more than the minimum wage…The national Democrats think Texas is the new battleground. Well let’s be very clear. Texas will be their political burial ground.”
Follow Kristin Tate on Twitter @KristinBTate.
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