Ben Carson: Gay Rights Are Different Than Civil Rights, But Is Being Gay A ‘Choice’ Controversy

Ben Carson is clarifying his views on gay rights, such as same-sex marriage, and the Civil Rights Movement. Carson initially found himself the focus of a backlash about gay rights after he contended that being gay is a choice because some “go into prison straight — and when they come out, they’re gay,” reported CNN.

A controversial possibility for the GOP presidential race, Carson also said he now feels he should not have shown his emotions, but was angry when Chris Cuomo interviewed him about the topic.

“I was a little bit irritated that he was equating the whole [gay marriage] issue with the Civil Rights movement. Because, quite frankly, I didn’t remember any times when there were signs up that says, you know, ‘everybody else here and gay people have to drink at this fountain,’ ” said Carson.

The controversy began when Ben stated that determining whether same-sex marriage should be allowed is an issue best determined by individual states. He then compared the issue to racial segregation during a question-and-answer segment with Cuomo.

“What if people of a state vote for a law, 100 to zero, that winds up infringing on the rights of a minority — like happened very often with slavery? Like many would argue is happening now with people who are gay?” asked Chris.

Responding to that question, Carson argued that in accordance with the Constitution, segregation against blacks had been tackled. However, he then made his infamous argument that gay marriage is not the same because being gay is a choice, adding to the backlash when he claimed that some emerge from prison gay, meaning that being gay is a choice.

Although Ben subsequently described his commentary as “hurtful and divisive,” his follow-up comments showed that he was pleased with the final outcome with regard to how those against him as the Presidential choice feel.

“They saw that as the opportunity to finally knock this guy out — and they thought that they had done it. Stick a fork in him, he’s gone. They were jubilant. And now they’re saying, I can’t believe this guy’s still here, are you kidding me?”

Various studies have been done on the topic of whether being gay is a choice, as Carson claimed, or based on biology. One recent study, reported in the New Scientist, analyzed the genes of more than 400 gay brothers.

Researchers linked men’s sexual orientation with specific human genome regions, and because it included three times the number of individuals as other studies, it is viewed as the most significant in answering the question of whether being gay is a choice or a pre-determined biological issue.

“It erodes the notion that sexual orientation is a choice,” declared Alan Sanders, who led the study from the NorthShore Research Institute in Evanston, Illinois.

As the Inquisitr reported, Caitlyn Jenner’s recent and very public transition from male to female is being regarded as a significant milestone in changing the views surrounding the LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) community.

“This is a cultural milestone for transgender patients,” said one of Jenner’s plastic surgeons. “This enables other transgender patients to be better accepted and enables society to better understand what they go through. She has just been a tremendous asset for the transgender community, building better understanding of what transgender people go through psychologically, the difficulty of living with this secret – one of the ultimate secrets you can keep.”

[Photo by Richard Ellis / Getty Images]