Andy Rooney Comments on AIDS Upset Gays

Television commentator Andy Rooney, who specializes in outrageous remarks, was accused Tuesday of homophobia by a major gay organization after he said homosexual relationships caused AIDS.

But Rooney, whose puckish observations regularly air on the CBS show “60 Minutes,” says he “feels innocent of any negative behavior toward homosexuals,” and that he counts gays among his friends.

Many of the objections raised by the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation stemmed from Rooney’s year-end television special which aired on CBS Dec. 28.

“He commented that a number of ills which affect us are brought on by our own behavior, like smoking and cancer,” said GLAAD’s Craig Davidson. “Then he referred to homosexual unions and AIDS as another example.

“We also have copies of his columns in which he’s said he feels the same about homosexuals as he does about smokers--that he wouldn’t want to be in a small room with one,” Davidson added.

Rooney said he has gotten hundreds of letters about his comments and had sent a response to the gay magazine “The Advocate” in which he apologized and promised “I’ll be more careful.” He said GLAAD had not requested a meeting, but Davidson said GLAAD had made a request for a meeting through CBS brass. “I feel sorry for them more than anything,” Rooney said. “And I further offend them by feeling sorry for them, I guess. I think they got a bad deal, genetically. It’s like being left-handed, to the extent that the world makes it difficult for them.”

Rooney said GLAAD’s objections to his suggestion that homosexual unions cause AIDS were akin to the gun lobby’s argument that guns don’t kill people, criminals do, or the tobacco lobby saying cigarettes don’t kill, lung cancer does.”