Rick Santorum talks sodomy laws on Bradlee Dean’s radio show

Presidential candidate Rick Santorum appeared on controversial preacher Bradlee Dean’s radio show Saturday, stating his support for so-called “sodomy laws” and criticizing supporters of same-sex marriage rights.

“This is not about gay marriage, it is about changing what is right and wrong and fundamentally changing what people of faith can say and do in society,” Santorum said on Dean’s radio show. “The ultimate objective here is to drive faith out of the public square, to drive morality out of the laws of this country, to secularize our society with a different set of values.”

Santorum told Dean that opponents of same-sex marriage need to keep fighting.

“For us to say they are winning and we should quit, I can’t accept that. They are not winning, first of all,” Santorum said. “There’s been 32 votes in the country and [same-sex marriage] has lost every single time.”

Santorum said opponents of same-sex marriage rights are often characterized as “bigots.”

“The reason that people don’t talk about it like I do is that you are vilified by the mainstream media, by Hollywood, by the educational establishment, all of the levers of power,” Santorum said. “Even the conservative media when it comes to these issues are hesitant to talk about them, it’s not polite conversation.”

Santorum pointed to the landmark case, Lawrence v. Texas, where the U.S. Supreme Court overturned sodomy laws that were used to imprison gays and lesbians.

“And I stood up from the very beginning back in 2003 when the Supreme Court was going create a constitutional right to sodomy and said this is wrong we can’t do this,” Santorum said. ”And so I stood up when no one else did and got hammered for it. I stood up and I continue to stand up.”

Santorum added, “I do not believe that sexual orientation should be added to hate crimes, but let me be honest, I don’t believe in hate crimes, period.”

Santorum’s appearance on the Sons of Liberty marks the first time a current presidential candidate has shared the airwaves with Dean. Dean has hosted Rep. Michele Bachmann in recent years, both on the radio program and at ministry fundraisers – Ron Paul and Tim Pawlenty have also been interviewed on the program.

Dean courted controversy earlier this year when he gave the invocation before a session of the Minnesota House, a flap that cause House Speaker Kurt Zellers to apologize and reconvene the House with a prayer by the House chaplain.

Long an opponent of homosexuality, Dean has accused some gays and lesbians of targeting children and asserted that “[o]n average, [homosexuals] molest 117 people before they’re found out,” though Dean later blogged that he meant pedophiles. He has also frequently called for the enforcement of sodomy laws, which were once used to imprison gays and lesbians in the United States.

Immediately before Santorum appeared on the program, Dean went after Fox News for promoting the homosexual agenda.

“If Fox news is the lifeguard per se of this country as one of the only media outsources that tell the truth, I’m trying to figure out why just this last week they are pushing the same agenda that Obama is pursuing through the homosexual and abortion agenda,” Dean said, referring to an exchange between Santorum and Fox’s Chris Wallace over Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, which riled social conservatives.

Dean said it’s indicative of the liberal bias of the media.

“Did you know that 76 percent of those that write your papers in this country see nothing wrong with homosexuality?” Dean said. “Up until 1961 you could go to prison for 21 years in the state of Rhode Island. Up until 1973 it was considered a mental illness. Now they are throwing it on your kids in public schools if you’re letting them … Well, what’s interesting is that a lot of the reporters are now homosexuals.”

Full audio of the interview can be heard at Genesis Communication Network.