Friday, December 03, 2004

Jerry Falwell's Tough Choice

I can't take any credit for this, I'm stealing it right off the surfergirl column in Slate. Her full post can be found here, but I just wanted to share this portion of a transcript of a recent Jerry Falwell appearance on MSNBC's Hardball where he discusses whether homosexuality is a "choice."

Matthews: Did you choose to be heterosexual?

Falwell: I did.

Matthews: You thought about it and you came up with that solution, that lifestyle?

Falwell: Well, put it this way, I was taught as a child that that's the right way to be.

Matthews: But did you feel an attraction toward women?

Falwell: Oh, of course.

Matthews: But when people are born and they find themselves having an attraction to somebody from the same sex, do you think that's a choice?

Falwell: I think you can experiment with any perversity and develop an appetite for it, just like you can food. […] I don't think anybody is born a bank robber […]

Matthews: How old were you when you chose to be heterosexual?

Falwell: Oh, I don't remember that.

Matthews: Well you must, because you say it's a big decision.

Falwell: Well, I ... I started dating when I was about 13.

Matthews: And you had to decide between boys and girls. And you chose girls.

Falwell: Well, I never had to decide, I never thought … (laughter) [emphasis mine]

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