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Rick Santorum’s surprising words of support for Bruce Jenner

By Ben Kelly

Republican Presidential candidate Rick Santorum has caused surprise by seemingly positive comments he has made about the gender identity of Bruce Jenner.

Answering a question from BuzzFeed at the South Carolina Republican Party Convention, Santorum said, “If he says he’s a woman, then he’s a woman.”

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He went on to explain, “My responsibility as a human being is to love and accept everybody. Not to criticize people for who they are. I can criticize, and I do, for what people do, for their behavior. But as far as for who they are, you have to respect everybody, and these are obviously complex issues for businesses, for society, and I think we have to look at it in a way that is compassionate and respectful of everybody. So these are tough issues.”

Asked about whether Jenner should be permitted to use women’s public bathrooms, he said, “I haven’t got into the whole issue, and I don’t think the federal government should get into the whole issue of bathrooms.”

Santorum later confirmed the meaning of his remarks on his Facebook page.

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The comments are surprising because Santorum – who ran for President once before in 2012 – is well known for his opposition to LGBT rights. In 2003 he expressed his opposition to same sex marriage on religious grounds, and said he felt there should be laws against sodomy.

He faced the wrath of many LGBT activists, namely Dan Savage, who attempted to undermine the politician by creating a sexual meaning for the word ‘Santorum’ online.