Sponsor Of North Carolina’s Anti-Gay Marriage Ban Lashes Out At Gay Critics

North Carolina state Sen. James Forrester (R), one of the chief advocates for the state’s proposed constitutional ban on same-sex marriage, is accusing LGBT advocates of trying to “discredit” him after his disastrous interview with SiriusXM’s Michelangelo Signorile. Forrester was unable to back up his claims that people in the gay “lifestyle” live shorter lifespans and couldn’t explain how same-sex marriage undermines the institution. Following the interview, Pam’s House Blend contributor Scott Rose reported that Forrester is not a “Fellow of the American College of Preventive Medicine” — as he claims on his website. The senator’s connections to the Aerospace Medical Association and the Christian Medical and Dental Association have also come into question.

But in a phone conversation with qnotes’ Matt Comer, Forrester accused critics of trying to “discredit” him and claimed that “If I put anything on my résumé that is false, I’ll certainly change it”:

“What has happened is the gay community — the homosexuals don’t like the bill that I pushed through the General Assembly,” Forrester told qnotes via phone. “They don’t like the bill. They are trying to kill the messenger. They are working to discredit me but they can’t.” [...]

“I don’t need to make up credentials; I have enough of them already,” he said. “The gay community is just trying to dig up anything bad about me to discredit me and discredit the bill. I wish they’d quit sending such hate mail and the terrible phone calls I’m getting from them.”

Forrester also said he had already changed his résumé to list “former” affiliations with groups like the American College of Preventive Medicine, though mentions of the groups remain unedited on his résumé at his personal campaign site and at a web page on the Gaston County Republican Party’s website. In each instance, Forrester’s citations seem to indicate a current and active affiliation with various groups.

Comer traveled to Forrester’s medical office and discovered that his affiliations are as expired and outdated as his views of gay people. During his now infamous interview with Signorile, Forrester couldn’t point to a legitimate medical source to substantiate his belief that gay people live shorter lives and began referring Signorile to a book by Fred Turek, a Christian activist who argues that gay people are embracing harmful, “illegitimate,” and “changeable” behavior — on par with that of sociopaths, alcoholics, or even gay-bashers.