Mike Huckabee Denies History Of Anti-LGBT Vitriol
Written by Luke Brinker
Published
Speaking before the Iowa Faith and Freedom Coalition on April 8, Fox News host Mike Huckabee emphatically declared that's he's “not a hater” and “not homophobic.” It's an assertion that flies in the face of Huckabee's decades-long anti-gay record.
Talking Points Memo reported on April 9 that Huckabee used his keynote address to deny that his opposition to marriage equality is rooted in homophobia, explaining that he's simply “on the right side of the Bible.”
That claim contradicts Huckabee's previous justifications for his anti-equality stance. Speaking to The New Yorker in 2011, he cited "the ick factor" as one of the reasons he didn't think same-sex couples should be allowed to get married.
Huckabee has staked out extreme anti-gay positions on other topics, as well. As an unsuccessful U.S. Senate candidate in 1992, he called for AIDS patients to be quarantined. During his 2008 presidential campaign, Huckabee refused to “recant or retract” that position.
On his radio program, Huckabee has fear-mongered about non-discrimination laws by baselessly asserting that they'll open the door to sexual assault in restrooms and locker rooms and thanked a caller who suggested it's “not okay to be gay.”
Moreover, Huckabee has repeatedly shown a willingness to associate with extreme anti-gay organizations. On his Fox News show Huckabee, he hosted anti-gay hate group leader Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council (FRC), which depicts gay men as sexual predators who want to recruit children to their “lifestyle” and “destroy ... our nation.” But Huckabee effusively praised the FRC, calling it “one of the most respected family organizations in America.”
Huckabee also spearheaded Chick-fil-A Appreciation Day in 2012, after Chick-fil-A President Dan Cathy's anti-gay views and donations to groups like the FRC generated protests from LGBT equality supporters.
Additionally, Huckabee gave the keynote address at the inaugural convention of Trail Life USA, an alternative to the Boy Scouts of America that bans participation by openly gay youth and was founded by an anti-gay activist who promotes discredited “ex-gay” therapy programs.
In his Iowa speech, Huckabee professed no interest in “what people do personally in their individual lives.” But his career has been marked by attempts to marginalize and promote discrimination against LGBT people.