January 30, 2006

Brownback: I Didn't Call Gays "Fruits"

Sen. Sam Brownback (R-KS) has clarified what Rolling Stone magazine, in a critical profile of the socially conservative Senator, suggested was an anti-gay smear.

Brownback, in describing the impact of gay marriage in Sweden, said of the effects, "You'll know 'em by their fruits." Wrote Rolling Stone's Jeff Sharlett: "He pauses, and an awkward silence fills the room. He was citing scripture -- Matthew 7:16 -- but he just called gay Swedes 'fruits.'"

Well -- Brownback's office, under fire from gay rights groups, slipped out a clarifying statement today:

"When quoting Matthew 7:16, 'Ye shall know them by their fruits'; I was in no way referring to sexual orientation."

"While this biblical passage was pertinent to our overall conversation about faith and deeds, it apparently led the writer to believe I was making a joke; I was not and would never do so with such a personal and sensitive issue."

BTW: Brownback's office considers the article a hit piece.

On Friday, Human Rights Campaign president Joe Solomnese wrote to Brownback: "In an apparent attempt to use a Biblical passage to derogatorily jab at gays and lesbians, you have stepped well over the line of decorum and common decency."

He urged an apology. [MARC AMBINDER]

Posted at 05:22 PM

Comments

Thanks for the notice, Marc, but I've a point of clarification of my own -- I did not actually suggest that Brownback's use of "fruits" was a deliberate slur. Rather, in using biblical language in conjunction with virulently anti-gay, phony social science, he seemed to use it as such. It was funny because it was absurd and revealing of a certain essential truth about Brownback's thinking with regard to homosexuality.

The irony was that the conversation had devolved to that point because Brownback was not familiar with the biblical passages on which he ostensibly bases his opposition to homosexuality. So he had to fall back on "fruits."

Jeff Sharlet | 02.05.06 10:18 AM

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