I think I know why Ken Buck fumbled the gay “lifestyle” question so badly in his debate with Michael Bennet on “Meet the Press.”
It wasn’t because Buck looked unprepared, although he did look unprepared. And it wasn’t because he has shown himself repeatedly to be an undisciplined candidate who routinely says things he has to unsay. (See: 17th Amendment, “horribly wrong” Social Security, high heels, Tea Party “dumbasses.”)
My guess is that he fumbled the answer because he may not actually believe that being gay is a “choice.” It’s difficult to defend something if, in fact, you don’t believe it. In order to make the “lifestyle” determination, Buck would have to believe that, at a certain age, boys or girls suddenly decide, or undecide, or redecide, to which gender they’re attracted.
I’m unpersuaded that in the year 2010, Buck believes that a boy who is bullied because of his sexual orientation and then kills himself decided he just didn’t want to re-choose.
The reductio-ad-absurdum question is, of course, when do straight people decide to be straight.
There are arguments — bad arguments, in my view, but arguments nonetheless — to be made about the place of homosexuality in society, even as “don’t ask, don’t tell” returns to the headlines. You can argue that open homosexuality causes problems in the military ranks, even if armies across the world, including the Israeli army, seem to have no problem with it.
You can argue that the only legitimate marriage is between a man and a woman because that’s how it has always been, even if societal views on gender constantly change.
But do serious people still think that whatever the cause — maybe a genetic marker or maybe something we don’t understand — someone becomes gay or straight simply by flipping a coin? I know, Sen. Jim DeMint thinks gays — or sexually active single women, for that matter — don’t belong in the classroom. I don’t question DeMint’s sincerity, just his judgment.
What bothers me about Buck is not what he believes. What bothers me is whether he believes what he’s saying. I’m aware of what I’m doing here. It’s far too easy to say that people we disagree with couldn’t possibly believe what they’re saying.
But as I watched him on “Meet the Press,” it was easy to see how uncomfortable he was with the question. It’s something I doubt he often brings up. But it is an important issue, just as certainly as the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy is an important issue.
If you missed Buck’s “Meet the Press moment,” here’s the transcript as moderator David Gregory asks Buck whether he believes that “being gay is a choice.”
Buck: I do.
Gregory: Based on what?
Buck: Based on what?
Gregory: Yeah.
Buck: Well …
Gregory: Why do you believe that?
Buck: Well, I guess you can, you can choose who your partner is.
Gregory: You don’t think it’s something that’s determined at birth?
Buck: I think that birth has an influence over like alcoholism and some other things, but I think that basically you, you have a choice.
When Buck is asked on what he bases his formulation that being gay is a choice, he answers that it’s because people choose their partners. Try to deconstruct that. You choose your partner, therefore you have choice. You choose which flavor of ice cream you eat, therefore you have choice.
Then when he’s asked whether being gay is something determined at birth, Buck says this “choice” is influenced by birth in the way that alcoholism is. It’s a terrible analogy, and Buck later says — in another unsays moment — he’s not suggesting that being gay is a disease. But what he does suggest is that being gay is a bad lifestyle choice — and that they ought to pick another one.
The whole thing reminds me of a conversation that Buck and I had about, of all things, climate change. He says he believes man has not contributed to global warming. That’s fine. It ignores conventional scientific wisdom on climate change, but there are opposing views and Buck has made his choice. And unlike some others, Buck says he doesn’t see any conspiracy here, just an honest difference of opinion.
What’s strange, then, is that according to a New York Times report, 19 of 20 Republicans running for the Senate say man has not contributed to global warming. Is that a coincidence? Does science break down according to party?
On climate change, Buck says the cause doesn’t matter because, in any case, we all want the same things — clean air and reduced dependence on foreign oil.
Maybe. But it does matter when you dismiss a person’s life as a lifestyle choice — as if it were the decision as to which beer to drink. And it matters even more if, when you say it, you don’t necessarily believe it.
Mike Littwin writes Sundays, Wednesdays and Fridays. Reach him at 303-954-5428 or mlittwin@denverpost.com.
