Santorum Defends Remarks on Gays

Sen. Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania on Tuesday ignored calls that he apologize and resign from his Senate leadership post as he defended comments he made comparing homosexuality to bigamy, polygamy, incest and adultery.

“My comments should not be misconstrued in any way as a statement on individual lifestyles,” Santorum said in a brief news release issued by his office.

In an interview with Associated Press published Monday, Santorum, chairman of the Senate Republican Conference, discussed a Texas sodomy law now being challenged before the U.S. Supreme Court.

“If the Supreme Court says that you have the right to consensual [gay] sex within your home, then you have the right to bigamy, you have the right to polygamy, you have the right to incest, you have the right to adultery,” Santorum was quoted as saying.

“You have the right to anything.”

The court is weighing whether the Texas law violates privacy rights and unfairly targets same-sex couples or if the state has a legitimate interest in setting moral standards.

In his statement Tuesday, Santorum said: “When discussing the pending Supreme Court Case Lawrence v. Texas, my comments were specific to the right to privacy and the broader implications of a ruling on other state privacy laws.

“In the interview, I expressed the same concern as many constitutional scholars, and discussed arguments put forward by the State of Texas, as well as Supreme Court justices. If such a law restricting personal conduct is held unconstitutional, so could other existing state laws.

“My discussion ... was about the Supreme Court privacy case, the constitutional right to privacy in general, and in context of the impact on the family. I am a firm believer that all are equal under the Constitution.”

Santorum’s comments Monday ignited a firestorm of criticism from some Democrats as well as gay rights groups.

In addition, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee on Tuesday called on Santorum to step down as chairman of the Senate Republican Conference, the No. 3 job in the party’s leadership.

A Democratic committee spokesman called his comments “divisive, hurtful and reckless.”

In an interview with the Fox news channel, Santorum said he would not step down.

The flap comes four months after Sen. Trent Lott of Mississippi was forced to step down as Senate Republican leader for racially charged remarks.

At the White House, press secretary Ari Fleischer had no comment on the matter.