Ben Carson: prison proves homosexuality is a personal choice

Potential presidential candidate Ben Carson made another controversial remark about homosexuality on Wednesday, the day after announcing he was forming an exploratory committee, a key step towards running for the Republican nomination.

In an interview with CNN’s Chris Cuomo, Carson, a pediatric neurosurgeon, claimed that being gay was a choice, arguing that homosexuality was simply personal preference and not biological “because a lot of people who go into prison, go into prison straight – and when they come out they’re gay”.

Carson went on to say that marriage was between man and a woman, and changing the definition was not necessary to give same-sex couples equal rights.

Carson, who has become a conservative favorite since he lectured Barack Obama on healthcare reform at the 2013 National Prayer Breakfast, has a long history of controversial remarks on LGBT issues. Carson had to withdraw as commencement speaker at Johns Hopkins University’s Medical School in 2013 after he compared gay people to North American Boy/Man Love Association, a pedophile advocacy group, and “people who believe in bestiality” in an interview with Fox News’ Sean Hannity.

Carson has whipped up anger on a number of other topics, including comparing the Affordable Care Act to slavery and blaming America’s economic woes on “political correctness”.

“For someone with the title doctor before his name, the lack of knowledge of medical science and the reasons for homosexuality absolutely baffle me,” said Gregory T Angelo, the executive director of the Log Cabin Republicans, a GOP gay-rights group.

“Even more so, in saying that being gay is a choice and making the absolutely ridiculous comparison to behavior in prison, Dr Carson is shutting himself out from huge swaths in the electorate who would totally be interested in his opinions on welfare state and lifting up American middle class.

“Because he is out of touch on gay issues, his candidacy is a non-starter”

These latest comments may do Carson some real damage – but not because of their content. Carson has made so many controversial statements that he has become almost gaffe-prone. It is “baked in the cake” that he will say things that many people regard as wacky, if not offensive.

The damage would be not from the controversy but from the fact that it could take him off-message as he rolls out his campaign.

It’s similar in that way to the issues that beset another politician prone to sticking his foot in his mouth, Joe Biden, when he launched his presidential campaign eight years ago. Biden was thrown off-kilter by having to explain comments he made calling Barack Obama “clean and articulate” in an interview around his announcement. The then-Delaware senator’s campaign never quite recovered from that awkward launch.

But the difference between Biden and Carson is that Carson’s gaffe reminds conservatives why they are so fond of the retired neurosurgeon.

Despite the controversy, Carson’s outspokenness and willing to challenge “the PC police” has attracted fervent support among some conservatives.

A political action committee set up to urge Carson to run for the White House, Draft Ben Carson, has outraised even Ready for Hillary and a recent poll in Iowa had him tied for third place in the GOP field.