This Trump nominee thinks same-sex marriage will lead to the ‘protection’ of paedophilia
By Ross Semple
Sam Clovis has been chosen by Donald Trump as chief scientist for the Department of Agriculture. Not only is he not a scientist, he has also made multiple anti-LGBT+ statements over the years, including the suggestion that equal marriage will lead to the acceptance of paedophilia.
Clovis, who has a bachelors degree in political science and a PhD in public administration, made a succession of anti-gay comments in a video that was recently uncovered by CNN. During an unsuccessful run for an Iowa Senate seat in 2014, he told an audeience that “as far as we know” there is no evidence to suggest that homosexuality is not a choice.
Before same-sex marriage was legalised in the US, Clovis said that equal marriage could lead to the ‘protection’ paedophilia. He wrote: “Follow the logic, if you engage in a particular behavior, what also becomes protected? If we protect LGBT behavior, what other behaviors are we going to protect?
“Are we going to protect pedophilia? Are we going to protect polyamorous marriage relationships? Are we going to protect people who have fetishes? What’s the logical extension of this? It can’t be that we’re going to protect LGBT and then we’ll pull up the ladder. That’s not going to happen, it defies logic. We’re not thinking the consequences of these decisions through.”
When an audience member suggested that his views were ‘extreme’, Clovis disagreed. “I don’t think it’s extreme,” said Clovis. “I think it’s a logical extension of thought. And if you cannot follow the logic then you’re denying your in denial.”
He also wrote about the issue of equal marriage in a 2012 blog post, which came on the heels of then-President Obama’s announcement of his support of same-sex marraige. “If society chooses to alter the definition of marriage, how can there be a line drawn at two adults?” Clovis wrote. “What is to say that polyamorous arrangements should not be included? What about other relationships? If that is the goal of the LGBT community leadership, then the reasons for rearranging the traditional definition is far more nefarious than just making a small segment of the population feel better.”
The White House did not comment when questioned over Clovis’ statements, but a USDA spokesperson told CNN “The Supreme Court settled the issue [of same-sex marriage] in 2015.”
If Clovis is appointed, it will only be the latest in a long line of anti-LGBT+ moves by Donald Trump. Less than two months into his presidency, Trump gutted an Obama-era order protecting LGBT federal employees, and earlier this summer he announced a ban on transgender Americans serving in the armed forces.
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