Rand Paul Said He Doesn’t Believe In The Concept Of Gay Rights

[brooklynite]

Source: BuzzFeed

Sen. Rand Paul said he doesn’t buy into the concept of gay rights because they are defined by a gay person’s lifestyle.

“I don’t think I’ve ever used the word gay rights, because I don’t really believe in rights based on your behavior,” the Kentucky Republican told reporters in a videotaped interview that has received little attention since it was recorded in 2013.

But it’s unclear how far — and to whom — Paul extends the argument that rights cannot be defined by behavior.

Practicing religion, for example, is a behavior enshrined as a primary American right. Free speech is behavior protected by the Bill of Rights.



Read more: http://www.buzzfeed.com/dominicholden/rand-paul-doesnt-believe-in-the-concept-of-gay-rights?bftw&utm_term=4ldqpgc#.hr7y9Y7yJ2

[leftofcool]

1. I am so shocked!

Senator squirrel hair doesn't believe in anyone' rights but his own right to not be a board certified eye doctor.

[HassleCat]

7. Hey, Hey, Hey!

Squirrels everywhere are offended.

[leftofcool]

58. I know. I got a ton of em out here and they let me know it!

[MosheFeingold]

11. He lives in a libertarian fantasy land

Where free markets correct discrimination. I believe he is more naive than evil.

Pure free market libertarians are like communists. Great theory. Stupid in practice.

[fasttense]

36. But I thought libertarians believed in more Laissez-faire

societies? Societies that do NOT punish others for things such as prostitution and smoking weed.

Why does Ayn Rand Paul want to allow Christians to punish their LGBT brothers and sisters? Should we allow Jews to discriminate against Christians or vice versa? I guess the Laissez-faire is only for economics and NOT for society at large. I think Ayn Rand just turned over in her grave. She really did hate religion and Christians for their social restrictions on behavior.

[MosheFeingold]

44. libertarians believed in more Laissez-faire

They do.

And this law is Laissez-faire. Basically, if your religion requires you to be a bigot, you are free to do so, subject to market forces.

It has an intellectual appeal, in that you would think a crappy business like this would cease to operate.

But, alas, there are enough bigots in the world, that they would probably favor such a business over another -- witness Chick Fil-A did great when the boycott when into effect.

If there would be ample choices for people, I'd probably let people be bigots, as it would give me the opportunity to take my business elsewhere.

[PatrynXX]

37. he's a republican

not a libertarian

[fasttense]

47. But he is named after the goddess of libertarianism

How can he betray her like this?

[DonViejo]

2. Here's the interview...

[geardaddy]

33. fuckwit

[tridim]

3. Thanks for the clarification, typical asshole Republican, Rand.

None of them get it. They are all dinosaurs.

[appalachiablue]

53. Say anything, anytime panderer. Rand's so done, so yesterday & the dead squirrel on his head could

use a rest, us too.

[Moostache]

4. Just another pandering fool...

The entire clown car of GOP candidates is enough to make me violently wretch for days already and its not even JUNE!!!

Carson and his "prison turns you gay" lines...Walker and Christie in Britain doing their level best to look like jackasses when asked a simple question about evolution that is settled fact for most of the sentient non-addled minds on the planet...the candidates jumping all over each other to back Indiana's "Hate the Gays. It's OK" law...

I am furious that these scum sucking dogs gerrymandered the Congress to take control of the country and run us smack into every single metaphorical iceberg on the sea.

History will remember them all for the craven lunatics they are...the real question is can they be stopped in time to salvage civilization as we know it?

[Spitfire of ATJ]

8. Civilization moves on without them.

[Half-Century Man]

25. CivilIzation advances in spite of them

No matter how hard they try to freeze us in place.

They don't see time as a linear thing, more like a cement.

[HassleCat]

5. Apple and Tree

This apple fell quite a ways from the tree. Rand Paul is not nearly as clever as his father. He steps on a cow pie just about every time he opens his mouth. I guess he sees free speech, freedom of assembly, freedom to own firearms, and all the others libertarians love so much, as natural endowments from our Creator, just as the preamble says. Muddled thinking. I wonder when his libertarian fans will recognize and admit the awful truth, that this guy is just not very bright.

[Skidmore]

6. About time he stops trying to sell himself

as a libertarian.

[Spitfire of ATJ]

27. He's a right wing libertarian....

That means Big Business shouldn't have any laws to stop them from doing anything they want.

The rest of us?

We can't be free with our naughty bits.

[Chicago1980]

9. I don't believe in the concept of Rand Paul as president.

And he won't be president as he's a pander hack and just as narrow minded as many Evangelical Christians.

Remember what he thought about the Civil Right Act. We know where he stands on issues like this.

[niyad]

21. welcome to du

sadly, I do not believe in the concept of rand paul as an actual human being.

[msanthrope]

10. I await the Greenwald commentary on this. nt

[valerief]

12. So he doesn't believe in religious rights AKA behavioral rights. nt

[mountain grammy]

13. Because free market and liberty?

He's a certified clown.

[Shrike47]

14. Keep him talking. The more he says, the poorer his chances get. He will hurt himself.

A behavior? What does he think fundy Christianity is?

[herding cats]

15. Rand Paul is just another bigoted Republican.

What he meant to say was he doesn't believe in equal rights for those damn gay people. The very concept offends him and the others who share his bigotry. Say what you mean for once. You're a bigoted ass, it's obvious, now own it.

[Thinkingabout]

51. Agreed, he only cares about what he wants at the moment, tomorrow, he changes.

[Shrike47]

16. Keep him talking. The more he says, the more he hurts himself.

Homosexuality is a 'behavior?' what does he think fundy Christianity is?

[Cryptoad]

17. Like most Neocon "Christian"

They think being gay is a choice. Senator Paul I hate to be the one to inform ya but if you can choose to sexually aroused by another man you are are homosexual and/or bisexual.

[arcane1]

29. For years I have offered the same challenge to the "choice" idiots: prove it.

I've even offered money to anyone who can choose to be gay.

It hasn't cost me a penny.

[csziggy]

18. Does he believe in equal rights for everyone?

Because that is what most people want no matter what special interest group they are in. EQUAL human rights for all. It gets named for particular groups when those groups are singled out for special UNequal treatment - denying marriage rights to some, random killings of others, denial of education or jobs or places to live or voting privileges, etc.

But at the heart, the fight has always been for equal rights.

[Liberalagogo]

19. Religion is a behavior

and a choice.

Does little Randy think that religion deserves no rights?

Can't have it both ways, you dirt bag.

[niyad]

20. of course he doesn't!.. by the way, randian, "gay rights" is TWO words, not one.

[Fearless]

22. Like father like son

I wonder if he disagrees with the 13th-15th Amendments as "government overreaches" as Ron Paul does?

I bet I know the answer.

Homophobia cloaked in patriotism is still homophobia.

[jeff47]

23. I eagerly await Paul's bill to legalize discrimination on the behavior known as religion. (nt)

[livetohike]

24. More proof that he is an idiot. n/t

[Yavin4]

26. At what point will Libertarian idiots finally see that this man, nor his father, are Libertarian

When? Just because you're against some wars and for legalization of pot, that does not make you Libertarian.

[guillaumeb]

28. so Rand Paul does not believe in the concept of rights.

Because many rights enumerated in the Bill of Rights are essentially based on behavior.
Speech, religion, assembly are all behaviors.
Bearing arms is not inherent in being human. It is a lifestyle choice.

Only in Tea Party America can he be considered a legitimate Presidential candidate. Thanks Ronnie Reagan and George W. Bush for lowering the bar for candidates.

[MrScorpio]

30. So, he doesn't believe in equal rights...

Why would anyone be surprised at this?

[Larry Engels]

31. Is he saying that gays should not have special, ultra-constitutional rights?

Then he would be opposed to hate crimes laws protecting gays, too, I guess.

[nolabear]

32. In other news, I don't believe in Rand Paul.

I think he's a muppet.

[n2doc]

34. I've said it before

And I'll say it again : Fuck Rand Paul

[tclambert]

35. What about gun owners' rights, Rand?

I may be wrong, but I think gun ownership is a choice. I don't think you're born that way.

[Cosmocat]

38. Except the most sacrosanct of all behavior - the decision to own a gun

right?

[Dont call me Shirley]

39. I don't believe in the concept of Rand Paul.

[DinahMoeHum]

40. Digging his own political grave. . .

[MisterP]

41. anarcho-capitalists don't believe in any rights, even to life: only transaction

Rothbard said it was more immoral to tax people to keep a retarded child alive than to let the kid die through neglect

[SoapBox]

42. Fuck you, you filthy disgusting creep!

Gawd I hate this guy...he is a prime example of exactly what is WRONG with America and the world.

Fuck off, Asshole!

[DRoseDARs]

43. He told Rachael Maddow on live television that businesses...

...shouldn't be forced to serve niggers, either.

Ok, ok, he didn't say "niggers" outright... but he totally said niggers.

[wordpix]

75. I remember when he said that, but not in those words

He certainly made it clear he thinks it's the business owner who should decide who's sitting at the lunch counter, and not the federal gov

[Beacool]

81. He should have ran in the 50s.

[Blue_Tires]

45. Any technocrat/emoprog Rand fans want to defend this one?

[LeftishBrit]

46. All rights are 'based on behaviour' or they mean nothing

For example, few people actually think, with regard to race, that people don't have a right to belong to a different race than themselves. The question of rights comes up with regard to behaviour: do people of different races have the right to vote, and live in the same place as you, and sit at the front of the bus, and get equal pay for equal work, etc.? Classic racist attitude: 'I've nothing against them, so long as they know their place!' Same for women: no one thinks that people don't have a right to be women, but many think that women don't have the same behavioural rights as men: to work in the same jobs and get the same pay and have a choice about planning their families; in some places, even to vote or go to school or drive a car or go out without their husbands.

If you deny people freedom of behaviour (aside from actions that actually harm others), then you are denying them rights!

[Jefferson23]

48. Rand Paul said, I AM A BIGOT.

Title corrected, and you're quite welcome.

[NuclearDem]

49. Stand with Rand!

[Adenoid_Hynkel]

50. and Bill Maher, Glenn Greenwald and Ralph Nader cover their ears

and keep pretending Paul represents a new kind of Republican

[MADem]

52. Behavior, huh? I question the behavior of an intolerant jerk who thinks that putting a

filthy squirrel pelt atop his head is a good look! That behavior goes to simple judgment!

Can't believe the moron went there with a "lifestyle" argument, either. What is "the gay lifestyle?" Go to work? Pay bills? Mow the lawn? Watch tee vee?

I think we need to know more about the potentially nefarious "lifeSTYLE" (cue portentous music...) of legislators who spend all day on the Hill but don't do a single thing for We, The People....

[merrily]

54. It's not gay rights. Gays are not asking for any special rights, only equal rights.

If someone had asked Paul if he believed in equal rights, what would he have said? Yes (whether he does or not, he would have HAD to say yes).

Then the next question should have been For members of the LGBT community, or only for heterosexuals?

I have no idea what his answer would have been to the second question, but he was given way too easy an out.

[YOHABLO]

55. Rand Paul is an idiot. As usual he says something stupid. And so it goes.

[Jackpine Radical]

56. Jackpine said

he doesn't believe in the concept of Rand Paul.

[Gothmog]

57. Rand Paul believes that being LGBT is a choice

Whed did he decide to be straight?

[1StrongBlackMan]

59. LOL ...

Practicing religion, for example, is a behavior enshrined as a primary American right. Free speech is behavior protected by the Bill of Rights.

Funny ... that was my exact first thought when I read that, "rights cannot be defined by behavior", uh .. line. Hell, everything IN the Bill of Right concerns behaviors.

[Initech]

60. And I don't believe in the concept of Rand Paul either.

Two can play this game.

[Hepburn]

61. I don't believe in the concept of Rand Paul! n/t

[blkmusclmachine]

62. Paul is a Christian dominionist/reconstructionist.

"I am a fake."

[Bartlet]

63. So rights based on behavior

Like choosing to be a Christian? So he's not in favor of those rights?

[sinkingfeeling]

64. So, I guess he doesn't believe in 'civil rights' nor 'women's rights' either.

[calimary]

65. They're saying on the air this morning that there's been silence from rand paul on this

("this" being the whole "MY Religion Trumps Your Rights" thing, in Indiana AND beyond).

Well, maybe yesterday afternoon/evening, and this morning he's silent. BUT WE KNOW WHERE HE STANDS. We already know. Just watching Rachel Maddow try to get something definitive out of him a few years ago when he danced all over her repeated questions about establishing a BASIC understanding of his stand on civil rights NOW. TODAY. In the second decade of the 21st Century. And he kept falling back on --- "oh the gummnt the gummnt the gummnt - keep the gummnt out -" "So then you think a restaurant owner should have the right to deny service to black people?" "Oh the gummnt the gummnt the gummnt..." "But DO YOU THINK businesses should have the right to deny service to black people?" "Oh the gummnt the gummnt the gummnt hate the gummnt, gummnt shouldn't have any role, no right to step in, freedom-freedom... blah-blah-blah..."

He never answered her question - WHICH IN AND OF ITSELF IS INDEED AN ANSWER TO HER QUESTION. So we know where he stands. Government should butt out of business's lives and if they don't want to serve blacks in their restaurants, that's their right, but but but - and the flaccid "well, I wouldn't eat there, but they have the right to do that if they want to but but but..." Yeah. We know, rand. We get it. And we get YOU much better and more clearly than you think. Most of us on this side are NOT snowed by you or anything you say or claim or anything about which you try to tiptoe through the tulips.

TRANSLATION: SO HE DOES think it's okay for business and anybody else to discriminate based on their religion. He DOES. He's keeping his head down in the foxhole at the moment because he doesn't deal with the shit he knows would rain down on him, and Heaven forbid more of those Rachel Maddow-style interviews, the way the shit has rained down on mike pence and started to in Arkansas with Governor Persecute-Bill-Clinton-during-the-Monica-thing. (Think we forgot that, ASSa?)

[workinclasszero]

66. Mr Libertarian????

bhHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!!!!!!1!1!!!!!!

[alfredo]

67. I don't believe in the concept of Libertarianism. It is a lifestyle choice.

[Eric Stratton]

68. Rand Paul is so gay.

[wordpix]

74. and you know this because...?

[Bluenorthwest]

69. This should not be a surprise to anyone, neither the bigoted views or the incredibly stupid verbiage

Right to assemble, to publish, to speak, to change one's choice of religions, to reject all religions, and in fact the right to make a colossal fool of one's self in the political arena.

[Trillo]

70. "don’t ... believe in rights based on ... behavior"

So, he doesn't think if you follow the law (a behavior), you have the right to be free?

[Cha]

71. I don't believe in the "concept" of having

that MoFo as POTUS.

[wordpix]

72. good way to sell yourself to ALL voters, Rand. Keep it up

[BigDemVoter]

73. Whenever I see the word "lifestyle"

used after the word, "gay", I know something obnoxious and idiotic will follow.

[Orsino]

78. Libertarian fire departments hose down all buildings, not just those on fire.

Somewhere there's a cartoon depicting this.

[Bradical79]

79. I believe in human rights

Homosexuals are human to and so should be afforded the same rights that I am. If a woman and I are attracted to each other, we can choose to get married. Homosexuals should be allowed to get married to their partners too because they are just as human as I am. It's not a difficult concept. People like Rand Paul though have to constantly perform mental gymnastics to make their bigotry seem like it's not a violation of our constitution.

[Beacool]

80. Well, I don't believe in the concept of this bigoted, sexist idiot becoming president.