In recent days, Ron Paul has tried to distance himself from damaging newsletters from the late 1980s and 1990s by attributing racist and anti-gay statements to ghost writers and disavowing the most incendiary sentiments. “It wasn’t a reflection of my views at all…I think it was terrible,” Paul said of the letters, which blamed AIDS on the gay community and likened black people to criminals. “It was tragic, and I had some responsibility for it, because the name went out in my letter. But I was not an editor. I (was) like a publisher.”

But despite his denials, CNN’s Peter Hamby reports that Paul included many of the controversial ideas in his 1987 book, “Freedom Under Siege: The U.S. Constitution after 200-Plus Years.” That work — published under Paul’s name — attributed AIDS to the gay “lifestyle” and suggested that victims of sexual harassment should simply quit their jobs:

In one section of the book, Paul criticized people suffering from AIDS or other contagious diseases for demanding health insurance coverage. “The individual suffering from AIDS certainly is a victim – frequently a victim of his own lifestyle – but this same individual victimizes innocent citizens by forcing them to pay for his care,” Paul wrote. [...]

“Employee rights are said to be valid when employers pressure employees into sexual activity,” Paul wrote. “Why don’t they quit once the so-called harassment starts? Obviously the morals of the harasser cannot be defended, but how can the harassee escape some responsibility for the problem? Seeking protection under civil rights legislation is hardly acceptable.”

Indeed, Paul did not disavow authorship of the newsletters until 2001 and defended their contents throughout the 1990s. For instance, in 1996, “Paul said statements about the fear of black males mirror pronouncements by black leaders such as the Rev. Jesse Jackson” and explained that his comments on blacks contained in the newsletters should be viewed in the context of “current events and statistical reports of the time.”

Earlier this month, Catholic Cardinal Francis George of Chicago raised more than a few eyebrows for comparing the the gay rights movement to the Klu Klux Klan. George made the comments after organizers of the city’s gay pride parade briefly considered rerouting the event past Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church.

And while the parade’s representatives have since “reached an agreement with the church and moved the parade start time to noon to accommodate services,” George — who initially backed off his incendiary comparison — is doubling down on his remarks in a written statement:

“The Chicago Gay Pride Parade has been organized and attended for many years without interfering with the worship of God in a Catholic church,” George wrote. “When the 2012 Parade organizers announced a time and route change this year, it was apparent that the Parade would interfere with divine worship in a Catholic parish on the new route. When the pastor’s request for reconsideration of the plans was ignored, the organizers invited an obvious comparison to other groups who have historically attempted to stifle the religious freedom of the Catholic Church. One such organization is the Ku Klux Klan which, well into the 1940′s, paraded through American cities not only to interfere with Catholic worship but also to demonstrate that Catholics stand outside of the American consensus. It is not a precedent anyone should want to emulate.

“It is terribly wrong and sinful that gays and lesbians have been harassed and subjected to psychological and even physical harm. These tragedies can be addressed, however, without disturbing the organized and orderly public worship of God in a country that claims to be free. I am grateful that all parties concerned resolved this problem by moving the Parade’s start time so as not to conflict with the celebration of Mass that Sunday.”

Truth Wins Out (TWO) has formed a Change.org petition calling for George’s resignation and Equally Blessed, an umbrella group of pro-LGBT rights Catholic organizations, said the Cardinal “has demeaned and demonized LGBT people in a manner unworthy of his office.” TWO is also taking out a full page ad in this Sunday’s Chicago Tribune calling on George to step down.