During a discussion of Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman Gen. Peter Pace's recent remarks that he thinks homosexual acts are “immoral” and comparable to adultery, 630 KHOW-AM co-host Dan Caplis said on the March 14 broadcast of The Caplis & Silverman Show, “I don't think gay people are immoral ... At the same time, do I think the act itself is immoral? Yes. And I think the vast majority of people do.” In fact, Gallup polling shows that more than half of the respondents in a May 2006 survey said they consider homosexuality “acceptable.”

As the Chicago Tribune reported on March 12, “Gen. Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said Monday that he supports the Pentagon's 'don't ask, don't tell' ban on gays serving in the military because homosexual acts 'are immoral,' akin to a member of the armed forces conducting an adulterous affair with the spouse of another service member.” The Tribune further reported:

“I believe homosexual acts between two individuals are immoral and that we should not condone immoral acts,” Pace said in a wide-ranging discussion with Tribune editors and reporters in Chicago. “I do not believe the United States is well served by a policy that says it is OK to be immoral in any way.

”As an individual, I would not want [acceptance of gay behavior] to be our policy, just like I would not want it to be our policy that if we were to find out that so-and-so was sleeping with somebody else's wife, that we would just look the other way, which we do not. We prosecute that kind of immoral behavior," Pace said.

As the Tribune noted the next day, Pace expressed regret over his remarks but “stopped short of an apology as gay rights groups and a powerful Republican senator rebuked the general” for his comments.

On his show, Caplis defended Pace's refusal to apologize for his comments, stating, “I don't think there's anything wrong with having that position.” He continued:

CAPLIS: I mean, personally, I don't think gay people are immoral. You know, I have gay friends, I've had gay roommates, I hire gays, I represent gays. I love gay people, and I don't think those are immoral people. At the same time, do I think the act itself is immoral? Yes. And I think the vast majority of people do.

Contrary to Caplis' assertion, a February 8 USA Today article (an online version appeared February 7) reported, “Gay teenagers are 'coming out' earlier than ever, and many feel better about themselves than earlier generations of gays, youth leaders and researchers say. The change is happening in the wake of opinion polls that show growing acceptance of gays, more supportive adults and positive gay role models in popular media.” The article also noted that “more Americans than ever consider homosexuality acceptable. In 2006, 54% found homosexuality acceptable, compared with 38% in 1992, Gallup polls show.”

The Gallup poll cited in the USA Today article was conducted May 8-11, 2006, and the margin of error for the half-sample was plus or minus 5 percentage points.

From the March 14 broadcast of 630 KHOW-AM's The Caplis & Silverman Show:

CAPLIS: [...] Well, again, the general was commenting on this in the context of the rule, because the “don't ask, don't tell” rule is based in part -- not entirely, but in part -- on the belief of the military that the, the act is immoral. But it's also based on other practical considerations. So, yeah, I think he probably -- there was no need for him to go down that road, or to address that. I mean, the policy can be addressed on its own. At the same time, I don't think he should apologize for it. I don't think there's anything wrong with having that position. I mean, personally, I don't think gay people are immoral. You know, I have gay friends, I've had gay roommates, I hire gays, I represent gays. I love gay people, and I don't think those are immoral people. At the same time, do I think the act itself is immoral? Yes. And I think the vast majority of people do. But whether they do or not, that's what he believes and I don't think he should apologize for it. I think it's more of an issue of how we treat our gay brothers and sisters with the love and respect as they deserve.

CRAIG SILVERMAN (co-host): Where are you coming from when you say a homosexual act between two consenting adults involved in a committed relationship, where do you come up with that's immoral?

CAPLIS: Well, I think the same place most people do. I mean, for me, personally, I just look at it and say -- and, again, when I say it's immoral, I think it's immoral on the same scale as, you know, things I did before I met my beautiful wife were immoral. I mean, in my, you know, view of the world, you know, sex outside of marriage is immoral. I, I engaged in it before I met my wife, but, just as there, I think that's immoral. I think that the homosexual act is immoral. And, you know, so I think you have to view it in proper context, as a matter of scale. But I don't think he should back off it, and I'm certainly not ashamed I -- to say that I think that act is immoral. It doesn't cause me to think less of, of gay people that I know. It doesn't cause me not to hire them, not to represent them. But, yes, I think the act is immoral.

SILVERMAN: But you're tying yourself in knots, because you're saying, “I don't regard homosexuality as immoral,” but then you say the act of homosexuality, even amongst a committed person, is immoral because you equate it with sex outside of marriage. So, what's a homosexual person supposed to do? 'Cause you won't allow them to get married. Or even, I don't know if you're supporting a civil union yet or not. That's the problem. And would you at least condemn Peter Pace for equating homosexual -- homosexuality with adultery? In your hierarchy of immorality, having sex outside of marriage -- you apparently regard that as immoral. But it's not the same scale of immorality as if you would have been cheating with somebody else's wife or something like that. Wouldn't you agree?

CAPLIS: Let me take them in order. First of all, I would agree that, if I had taken the position you say I did, I would be tying myself in knots. But that's not my position. Not at all. I don't tie my personal view that homosexuality -- that homosexual acts, that homosexual acts are immoral to sex outside of marriage. That's not my analysis. That's one I guess you wanted to impose on me. My point was that, listen, I don't think gays themselves are immoral people. I think this particular act is. Just as I think that, you know, having sex before marriage, based upon, you know, my faith and teachings, is. So, bottom line is: I don't think less of gay people. But I'm not going to run away from what I believe. I just think the act itself is immoral. So there's, there's no knot-tying going on there.