The media is salivating over a recent statement about homosexuality by Dr. Ben Carson -- the conservative neurosurgeon who formed a presidential exploratory committee Tuesday. Speaking with CNN's Chris Cuomo in an interview that aired on "New Day" Wednesday, Carson said that homosexuality is "absolutely" a choice, citing men who go into prison straight and leave gay as evidence. The media has pounced on the interview in hopes that it will come back to haunt the presidential hopeful in 2016.
When Cuomo argued that same-sex marriage rights fell under equal rights protection just like slavery, Carson pushed back on the comparison, saying that the major distinction was that personal "control" was involved. Cuomo then pressed him on whether or not he thought homosexuality was a "choice." Carson replied, "Absolutely," then cited sexuality in prison as an example.
Cuomo: You think they have control over their sexuality?... You think being gay is a choice?
Carson: Absolutely.
Cuomo: Why do you say that
Carson: Because a lot of people who go into prison go into prison straight -- and when they come out, they're gay. So, did something happen while they were in there? Ask yourself that question.
When Cuomo countered by saying that sexuality in prison was complicated, referencing "a whole theory of dominance" as a motivator, Carson asked him directly if he denied that some who entered prison straight turned to homosexual behavior. Cuomo would not deny it.
Carson: Are you denying that that's true?
Cuomo: I'm not denying that that's true, but I'm denying that that's a basis for understanding sexuality.
Carson: If that's true, it obviously thwarts what you just said.
Cuomo began to mount a counter-argument about some people going into prison as a drug addict and leaving as a criminal, but Carson turned the conversation back to the question of defining marriage. Arguing for equal rights protection for same-sex couples under civil unions (the position candidate Obama disingenuously took publicly in 2008), Carson defended the states’ rights to handle the issue rather than federal judges forcing states to redefine marriage.
Carson: Why do gay people want to get married? Why do they say they want to get married? Because they want to have various rights -- property rights, visitation rights. Why can't any two human beings, I don't care what their sexual orientation is, why can't they have the legal right to do those things? That does not require changing the definition of marriage.
In its coverage of the interview, CNN is quick to provide evidence to the contrary of Carson's statement about prison, citing a study by the APA and a Slate article as proof:
That argument, Carson said, "thwarts" the notion that homosexuality isn't a choice, which is at odds with the majority of the medical community, including the American Psychological Association, who says "most people experience little or no sense of choice about their sexual orientation." Slate's Mark Joseph Stern also outlined the scientific arguments against this particular belief last year.
