CONCORD, N.H. — GOP presidential hopeful Rick Santorum was met with boos by a group of college students at campaign appearance Thursday when he compared same-sex marriage to polygamy.
The often testy exchange occurred as Santorum addressed the College Convention 2012, a forum organized by New England College and open to students from all over the state, regardless of political party.
One student started the conversation by asking Santorum — a fervent opponent of same-sex marriage — why he did not think that equality included allowing members of the same gender to marry, reported The New York Times.
“If you’re not happy unless you’re married to five other people, is that O.K.?” asked Santorum in reply, to which the audience booed. “What about three men?” continued Santorum.
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According to Times report, audience members continued booing Santorum as he exited the event.
“Rick Santorum’s anti-gay hate is not going to perform well in New Hampshire,” said Human Rights Campaign President Joe Solmonese. “His reception there is indicative of just how poorly he will fare with mainstream voters as the primaries progress,”
“Rick Santorum’s views are out of step with the majority of Americans across demographics and faiths. He is basing his campaign off of bashing an entire community of his fellow Americans. That may serve him well with certain constituencies, but it’s something most Americans will not stand for,’ said Solmonese.
Santorum has a long history of trying to score political points through the bashing LGBT people.
In addition to speaking out against marriage equality on a regular basis, he also has criticized LGBT families and adoption, and called the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” (DADT) a means of forcing “social policy into the military.”
Last fall, Santorum told a gay soldier he would reinstate DADT because “any type of sexual activity has absolutely no place in the military.”
