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Colorado Senate Candidate Says Being Gay Is A Choice, Compares It To Alcoholism

This morning, during a Colorado Senate debate hosted by Meet The Press, Republican candidate Ken Buck said that being gay is a choice and compared it to alcoholism:

GREGORY: In a debate last month, you expressed your support for don’t ask, don’t tell, which we talked about with Mr. Gibbs. And you alluded to lifestyle choices. Do you believe that being gay is a choice? BUCK: I do. GREGORY: Based on what? BUCK: Based on what? GREGORY: Yeah, do you believe that? BUCK: Well, I guess you can choose who your partner is. GREGORY: You don’t think it’s something that’s determined at birth? BUCK: I think that birth has an influence over it, like alcoholism and some other things, but I think that basically you have a choice.

Watch it:

During the earlier debate in September, Buck said he did not support repealing Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell because “we have to make sure that we are as homogeneous as possible in the military.” He claimed that ending the ban would create “distractions that are caused by allowing lifestyle choices to become part of the discussion.”

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Huffington Post’s Amanda Terkel points out, according to all major mainstream medical and mental health professional organizations, “sexual orientation is not a choice.” As the American Psychological Association has concluded, “[M]ost people experience little or no sense of choice about their sexual orientation.”