Debating a gay-rights bill on the floor of the state Senate on Monday, a Republican lawmaker took the rhetoric to new heights by equating homosexuality as a sin with murder.Well hello Mr. Bigot, wanting to make consensual acts you disapprove of illegal. And so uninformed as to think adultery is illegal.
"I'm not saying this (homosexuality) is the only sin that's out there," said Sen. Scott Renfroe, R-Greeley. "We have murder. We have all sorts of sin. We have adultery. And we don't make laws making those legal, and we would never think to make murder legal."
But it gets worse. A Republican colleague of his, two days later:
Alternatively I think his district owes him a boot.Democrats were outraged Wednesday morning when Republican state Sen. Dave Schultheis said he planned to vote against a bill to require HIV tests for pregnant women because the disease “stems from sexual promiscuity” and he didn’t think the Legislature should “remove the negative consequences that take place from poor behavior and unacceptable behavior.” The Colorado Springs lawmaker then proceeded to cast the lone vote against SB 179, which passed 32-1 and moves on to the House.
“HIV does not just come from sexual promiscuity, it comes from many other things — contaminated blood, for one,” fired back one of the bill’s sponsors, Sen. Lois Tochtrop, after Schultheis spoke on the Senate floor.
“What this bill will do and why it’s so important to test the woman when she is pregnant — if she is HIV positive, treatment is started immediately to protect the baby, the unborn baby,” the Thornton Democrat, who is also a nurse, said.
Listen to Schultheis and Tochtrop here.
Reaction to Schultheis’ remarks rippled through the Capitol.
“Sen. Schultheis drew the conclusion that anyone who may have HIV is sexually promiscuous,” said Sen. Jennifer Veiga, a Denver Democrat and the Legislature’s only openly lesbian member. “I find that offensive in the context of this bill and I find it offensive in the context of the gay community.”
“I think [Schultheis] owes the [Legislature] and the public at large an apology,” Veiga said.
It takes a pretty twisted minded to argue that preventative testing shouldn't be done because the disease prevention might "reward" a behavior you disapprove of on other grounds.
And then, as if that weren't enough:
State Sen. Dave Schultheis restated his opposition to a bill requiring HIV tests for pregnant women by claiming that infected babies would cause families to “see the negative consequences of that promiscuity.”He hopes people and their babies get sick because he disapproves of how many partners they may have had?
The Colorado Springs Republican with a penchant for foot-in-mouth moments tells The Rocky Mountain News in a follow-up story to Wednesday’s Senate floor controversy:
“What I’m hoping is that, yes, that person may have AIDS, have it seriously as a baby and when they grow up, but the mother will begin to feel guilt as a result of that,” he said. “The family will see the negative consequences of that promiscuity and it may make a number of people over the coming years begin to realize that there are negative consequences and maybe they should adjust their behavior.”
Yes, Schultheis really said he is “hoping” people “have AIDS, have it seriously as a baby …”
What is this freak doing in a legislature?
The way he phrases it, "seriously", I wonder if he's misinformed enough to believe that one could have AIDS mildly. Sounds kind of like it, which would make him an even worse person.
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