Steele:
Same-Sex Marriage a State Issue

GQ has posted an interview with new Republican National Committee chairman Michael Steele, who has lately come under fire from the far right of the GOP -- and this interview surely won't help repair that damage. In it, Steele manages to offend social conservatives on two of their most driving issues: gays and abortion. Though thus far he has been erratic and even comical at turns (using phrases like "off the hook" for his plans to do some "hip-hop" outreach for the GOP), he managed to stay consistent in his interview with Lisa DePaulo on the subject of states' rights -- asserting that both abortion and same-sex marriage are issues that should be left up to the states.

Says Steele, "From my faith tradition and upbringing, I believe that marriage -- that institution, the sanctity of it -- is reserved for a man and a woman. That's just my view. And I'm not gonna jump up and down and beat people upside the head about it, and tell gays that they're wrong for wanting to aspire to that, and all of that craziness. That's why I believe that the states should have an opportunity to address that issue."

Steele breaks from the most conservative elements in the Party by voicing his opposition to federal constitutional bans on both same-sex marriage and abortion. If you feel your pores opening, it's probably from the steam billowing out of the ears of millions of Bible thumpers.

But Steele didn't stop there, he went on to say that getting an abortion is a matter of choice but being gay isn't. If his thinking on abortion was a little convoluted (which it was), his position on sexual orientation was not. He even called the concept of people being born with a certain predisposition "the prevailing view at this point," adding, "I know that there's some out there who think that you can absolutely make that choice. And maybe some people have. I don't know, I can't say. Until we can give a definitive answer one way or the other, I think we should respect that."

None of this is to tag Steele as particularly "pro-gay" (witness his no-civil-unions rant ), but here's something that is definitive: Steele will absolutely be hearing from the "some out there" who believe sexuality is a choice, because they form the base of his constituency. What isn't clear is whether he will survive as GOP chairman.

Full text of the gay-relevant portions of the interview below (you will note that it starts, during a discussion of his decision to enter seminary, with an unfortunate conflation of pedophilia and homosexuality in the priesthood, jumping from "scandals" to the "closet" then "gay priests"):

GQ : Did you date a lot in college? aEUR" Steele: No, I didn't. I had a lot of girlfriends, and I loved -- I love hanging out with women, sometimes more than men. You know, sit back and let your hair down type thing? So I knew what I was walking away from. And the one thing I always try to convey to young men and women who think about joining a religious order: Never look at it in terms of what you're giving up, because you're not giving up anything. You're making a choice to live your life a certain way -- celibate, poor, and obedient.

And you weren't just flirting with this. You were there three years. aEUR" Yeah, I was. I got my habit, actually.

What were those three years like? aEUR" It was painful, it was joyful, it was, uh, challenging, it was calming. I mean, look, you're making a radical shift in your life. And that's why, you know, a lot of people, when they look at priests, what they don't understand is, the man before you made a commitment long before the moment you see him. And in that journey a lot of things come and go that challenge him, that test him, that make it difficult to stay faithful, to stay true to his call. It's a real hard thing. And you realize that as you're sitting there in chapel and you're praying. And then you go out into the world, and the world is looking at you, and you're in full habit, and you're working, you know, in the community, and a pretty young thing comes by I mean, there are tests like that. And I appreciate those tests, I really do. Because it strengthens your vocation. It pushes you to think about whether or not this is the life I want. I remember, when I left the order, saying to my novice master that, you know, throughout the priesthood there are those who should be taking this step that I'm taking today. And sure enough -- what, 10 years later? -- the scandals start breaking.

That had to be hard for you to watch. aEUR" It was very hard, because I knew there were men who should not have been there. These are individuals who were, you know -- they used the priesthood as a place to go hide.

It's a very safe closet, isn't it?aEUR"Yeah, it's a very safe closet to go to and hide who you really were, what you really felt. And the church paid a dear price for it.

Do you have a problem with gay priests who are celibate? aEUR" No, it's your nature. It's your nature. You can't -- I can't deny you your nature.

Let's talk about gay marriage. What's your position? aEUR" Well, my position is, hey, look, I have been, um, supportive of a lot of my friends who are gay in some of the core things that they believe are important to them. You know, the ability to be able to share in the information of your partner, to have the ability to -- particularly in times of crisis -- to manage their affairs and to help them through that as others -- you know, as family members or others -- would be able to do. I just draw the line at the gay marriage. And that's not antigay, no. Heck no! It's just that, you know, from my faith tradition and upbringing, I believe that marriage -- that institution, the sanctity of it -- is reserved for a man and a woman. That's just my view. And I'm not gonna jump up and down and beat people upside the head about it, and tell gays that they're wrong for wanting to aspire to that, and all of that craziness. That's why I believe that the states should have an opportunity to address that issue.

So you think it's a state issue? aEUR" Absolutely. Just as a general principle, I don't like mucking around with the Constitution. I'm sorry, I just don't. I think, you know, in a pluralistic, dynamic society as the one that we have, every five years you can have a constitutional convention about something, you know? I don't think we should be, you know, dancing around and trying to amend it every time I've got a social issue or a political issue or a business issue that I want to get addressed. Having said that, I think that the states are the best laboratory, the best place for those decisions to be made, because they will then reflect the majority of the community in which the issue is raised. And that's exactly what a republic is all about.

Do you think homosexuality is a choice?aEUR"Oh, no. I don't think I've ever really subscribed to that view, that you can turn it on and off like a water tap. Um, you know, I think that there's a whole lot that goes into the makeup of an individual that, uh, you just can't simply say, oh, like, "Tomorrow morning I'm gonna stop being gay." It's like saying, "Tomorrow morning I'm gonna stop being black."

So your feeling would be that people are born one way or another.aEUR"I mean, I think that's the prevailing view at this point, and I know that there's some out there who think that you can absolutely make that choice. And maybe some people have. I don't know, I can't say. Until we can give a definitive answer one way or the other, I think we should respect that.