DES MOINES, Iowa — An Iowa lawmaker who gained national attention last week for critical remarks about homosexual lifestyles says he wants to go to lunch with a gay colleague.
State Sen. Dennis Guth (R-Klemme, Iowa) said on Monday that he’d like to do lunch with Sen. Matt McCoy, of Des Moines, and “get to know each other.”
The openly gay McCoy called Guth ignorant last week after Guth said that homosexual lifestyles pose a health risk to him and his family.
“Just as there are multiple ways that your smoking hurts me, such as secondhand smoke, increased insurance costs, cost to society of days lost for poor health, so it is with same-sex relationships,” said Guth, in a speech on the Senate floor.
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“There are health risks that my family incurs because of the increase in sexually transmitted infections that this lifestyle invites. For example there are more and more medical tests required before giving blood or giving birth,” he said.
McCoy was quick to rebuke Guth, and said, “While somebody cannot choose to be gay, you certainly can choose to be ignorant.”
McCoy said he’d be happy to do lunch with Guth.
He added that he would welcome Guth to his East Village neighborhood to meet people that “represent the kind of diversity that I’m proud to call my capital city.”
