Chris Christie: Texas Governor was wrong to compare homosexuality to alcoholism
Republican Chris Christie has rebuked Texas governor Rick Perry, for comparing homosexuality to alcoholism.
Claiming that homosexuality is a choice, Perry had said earlier this week: “Whether or not you feel compelled to follow a particular lifestyle or not, you have the ability to decide not to do that.
“I may have the genetic coding that I’m inclined to be an alcoholic, but I have the desire not to do that, and I look at the homosexual issue the same way.”
However, New Jersey governor Christie said at an event yesterday: “I disagree with him, and I don’t believe that’s an apt analogy.”
He added: “Every governor and public official has to speak for themselves on these issues… I just spoke for myself.”
Christie and Perry are considered potential rivals for the Republican presidential nomination in 2016.
Perry was roundly criticized for an anti-gay ad during his failed 2012 campaign, and has also urged the Boy Scouts to keep its ban on gay members.
Last year Christie became the first Republican governor to sign a law banning ‘gay cure’ therapy for minors, saying: “I believe that exposing children to these health risks without clear evidence of benefits that outweigh these serious risks is not appropriate.”
Last week, the Texas Republican Convention actively endorsed gay-to-straight conversion therapy.
