The FAMiLY LEADER’s 14-point marriage fidelity pledge has divided the GOP’s 2012 presidential field and raised concerns among GOP operatives that the group and its president — three-time failed gubernatorial candidate Bob Vander Plaats — may be too extreme for the Republican state party and could be alienating moderate and independent voters. For instance, Vander Plaats regularly compares same-sex marriage to polygamy and incest, and the group’s pledge requires candidates to affirm that being gay is a choice and that homosexuality is a public health risk.
But in new video footage obtained by ThinkProgress, Vander Plaats goes even further in cementing his strong dislike for gay people. During an event in Audubon, Iowa in March of 2011, Vander Plaats explained that many Iowans were concerned about the state becoming “the butt of jokes” in the aftermath of a state Supreme Court decision which found that a law prohibiting same-sex marriage was unconstitutional. He was then interrupted by an attendee who recalled a joke his wife tells about the “fags” marrying in Iowa law. Vander Plaats erupts in laughter:
ATTENDEE: You know what my wife says? She says: Iowa, the state where you can’t smoke a fag, but you can marry one.
[Laughter]
VANDER PLAATS: Oh shoot, that’s pretty good, that’s pretty good. Oh shoot.
Watch it:
Vander Plaats’ reaction is not entirely surprising, since the group has previously compared homosexuality to the cancerous effects of second-hand smoking and links supporters to ex-gay reparative therapy. What’s more telling is the willingness of Republican presidential candidates like Tim Pawlenty and Newt Gingrich to attend the group’s presidential forum and Michele Bachmann’s and Rick Santorum’s eagerness to sign its pledge.
For many Iowans, however, it’s not same-sex marriage that’s transforming Iowa into the “butt” of jokes — it’s Vander Plaats and his group who are so embarrassing.