Ben Carson: Don’t equate gay rights with civil rights
He really doesn't want to talk about "the gay issue"
“I didn’t remember any times when there were signs up that says, you know, ‘everybody else here and gay people have to drink at this fountain.'”
—Ben Carson, Republican candidate for president, retired neurosurgeon and renowned homophobe, speaking on Fox News’ Special Report Wednesday night.
Asked to clarify statements he made to CNN earlier this year that being gay is a choice — apparently because people “go into prison straight — and when they come out, they’re gay” — Carson claimed that he “shouldn’t have allowed my emotions” to get the better of him.
“I was a little bit irritated that he was equating the whole [gay marriage] issue with the Civil Rights movement,” he said. “Because, quite frankly, I didn’t remember any times when there were signs up that says, you know, ‘everybody else here and gay people have to drink at this fountain.'”
On Thursday, he was asked by CNN’s Brianna Keilar to clarify his statements.
“I don’t want to talk about the gay issue,” Carson replied. Keilar asked Carson to elaborate on whether he thought gay people were discriminated against.
“Everybody should be protected against discrimination,” he said. “Can we move on to something more important?”
Asked again to offer a more coherent answer to “a very simple question”, Carson conceded that “every group faces some type of discrimination.”
“Christians face a lot of discrimination,” he continued. “I wish we could talk more about that.”
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