Rep. Trent Franks (R-AZ) vehemently opposes LGBT equality at every turn, but today went so far as to call marriage equality “a threat to the nation’s survival.” This fear-mongering rivals that of Oklahoma state Rep. Sally Kern (R), who has repeatedly compared the LGBT community to terrorists. In his comments today to the Family Research Council, an anti-gay hate group, he suggested that marriage is a “special right” just for heterosexuals and that somehow marriage equality would eliminate the “launching pad of the next generation,” insinuating that society would die out as a result. Right Wing Watch has the full account:
FRANKS: We understand that when we’re granting the rights of marriage, that that’s a special right Tony, that’s something we have suggested is clearly the best possible way to see children raised through the best possible environment to launch the next generation, we believe that with all of our hearts as a society, I think most people understand that. So we’ve set aside this special area of the law that says we’re going to respect traditional marriage of a man and a woman because that is the launching pad of the next generation. Let’s face it; we have made a special exception in the law that gives special consideration and recognition to that.
And when people would come along and blur that distinction and say ‘well that should apply in every way’ it not only is a complete undermining of the principles of family and marriage and the hope of future generations but it completely begins to see our society break down to the extent that that foundational unit of the family that is the hope of survival of this country is diminished to the extent that it literally is a threat to the nation’s survival in the long run.
Listen to it: