Mike Huckabee Shocked by Gays in TV Commercials, Textbooks

The former Arkansas governor never expected to see LGBT people represented on television and in textbooks.

Sunnivie Brydum

Sunnivie is the managing editor of The Advocate, and an award-winning journalist whose passion is covering the politics of equality and elevating the unheard stories of our community. Originally from Colorado, she and her spouse now live in Los Angeles, along with their three fur-children: dogs Luna and Cassie Doodle, and "Meow Button" Tilly.

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Sunnivie Brydum

June 12 2013 3:47 PM EST

November 17 2015 5:28 AM EST

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In a radio broadcast with the conservative group Concerned Women for America, former Arkansas governor and failed Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee registered his shock and dismay at being forced to see LGBT people on television.

In the audio clip, excerpted by Right Wing Watch, Huckabee laments the disastrous consequences of marriage equality, saying the freedom to marry is about much more than just allowing Americans to wed the person they love.

"This is why the legalization of same-sex marriage is going to be a much bigger issue than just saying, 'We let people love whoever they want to love,' that's not the issue," said Huckabee. "Will it force businesses -- and of course everyone will say, 'Oh no, people still have their rights,' but they don't. And every fear that people had, has in fact come true, that this is being forced in textbooks on how marriage is depicted, we're now even seeing television commercials portraying same-sex couples. That's something I guess I didn't expect to see anytime soon."

The fact that the former governor can't stomach seeing gay people on TV or mentioned in textbooks is undoubtedly comforting for the estimated 3.5% of Arkansas residents who identify as LGBT, according to a 2012 Gallup poll.