The hosts of The View ridiculed Virginia Republican gubernatorial candidate Ken Cuccinelli for his push to reinstate the state’s Crimes Against Nature law on Monday, a measure that would make felons out of consenting married couples who engage in oral or anal sex in the privacy of their own homes. The act was struck down by federal courts after Cuccinelli blocked efforts to bring it in line with the Supreme Court’s 2003 Lawrence v. Texas ruling.
“Michael Douglas better stay out of Virginia,” co-host Joy Behar teased, referring to the actor’s claim that he developed throat cancer from performing oral sex. She later joked, “he wants the government on my back and my husband off of it” as the other hosts piled on. Watch it:
Cuccinelli has long supported restrictions on the sexual behavior of consenting adults and has linked certain acts to homosexuality. “My view is that homosexual acts, not homosexuality, but homosexual acts are wrong. They’re intrinsically wrong. And I think in a natural law based country it’s appropriate to have policies that reflect that,” he told a newspaper in 2009.
He reiterated that view during the first gubernatorial debate against Democratic nominee Terry McAuliffe on Saturday, admitting that his extreme anti-LGBT beliefs have not changed. Those positions, however, are now raising concerns from some traditionally Republican business donors, who fear that his extreme views could jeopardize the state’s economic development, and have left the attorney general at a substantial fundraising disadvantage.