State Senate candidate defends anti-gay remarks, rebukes Iowa GOP

An update to Tuesday’s story about Jeremy Walters, the GOP candidate for Iowa Statehouse who claimed AIDS is punishment for homosexuality. The Iowa Republican Party condemned his remarks that evening, but now Dave Leach, an Iowa State Senate candidate has come to his defense and is criticizing the Party for distancing themselves from Walters. The Iowa Independent has his remarks:

Everyone knows sodomites suffer [HIV/AIDS] far more than the rest of the population, and that sodomy’s practices, which are so embarrassingly unsanitary that you dare not detail them in one of your articles, would inevitably create such a disease if it did not already exist. It seems “inappropriate,” to use Strawn’s word, to apologize for saying what the Bible says, with which everyone agrees. It is “inappropriate” for anyone to ask such a thing. I am sorry that Jeremy gave up his ground, although at least he stood it for awhile, which is more than most will do.

In light of Dave Leach’s involvement in the violent anti-choice movement and his defense of Scott Roeder, assassin of Kansas abortion provider George Tiller, One Iowa’s Executive Director issued the following statement:

“Considering Leach’s background and his most recent statements, we’re beginning to see a disturbing pattern of Iowa GOP candidates who use violent rhetoric and misinformation as a political weapon,” said One Iowa Executive Director Carolyn Jenison. “These remarks fan the flames of bigotry and hatred and they have no place in our civic dialogue.”