Virginia Republican Lt. Gov. Candidate Calls AIDS the ‘Product’ of Homosexual Lifestyle
Virginia Republican lieutenant governor nominee Jay Katzen has been quoted as saying that AIDS is the result of "people choosing to be homosexuals," the Washington Post reports. Katzen was quoted last month in Style Weekly, a Richmond, Va.-based magazine, as saying, "AIDS is the product, sadly, in most cases of a choice that people have made. ... We recognize that homosexuality is a choice. It's a lifestyle with public health consequences." The statement comes as the Republican ticket is attempting to portray in radio ads that its Democratic rivals are the "most liberal" candidates in the state's history, after the Democratic nominee for lieutenant governor, Timothy Kaine, in May said that he supported "civil benefits" for gay couples. The Republican ads, however, have been criticized by gay-rights organizations, including the Log Cabin Republicans of Northern Virginia, as "distorted, divisive and irrelevant to the election" (Timberg, Washington Post, 8/31).
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