Republican Maine state Representative Lawrence Lockman is
under fire for comments he’s made in the media regarding rape, abortion, and homosexuality.
An investigation by Mike Tipping, an activist with Maine People’s Alliance, found numerous offensive comments made by the Republican in various newspaper interviews.
Perhaps the most inflammatory was a press statement from 1995 in which Lockman says “If a woman has (the right to an abortion), why shouldn’t a man be free to use his superior strength to force himself on a woman? At least the rapist’s pursuit of sexual freedom doesn’t (in most cases) result in anyone’s death.”
That wasn’t all.
According to the report, Lockman once implied that the HIV virus can be spread through mosquitoes and bed sheets. Lockman also asserted that liberals helped exacerbate the AIDS epidemic by assuring “the public that the practice of sodomy is a legitimate alternative lifestyle, rather than a perverted and depraved crime against humanity.”
In a letter to Bangor News, Lockman once wrote “Clearly the practice of sodomy is learned behavior, and those addicted to this form of biologically-insane sex are at high risk for all manner of serious medical problems.”
Lockman also spoke out against HIV infected students attending school, saying “It’s peculiar that the government is telling health care workers that surfaces contaminated with bodily fluids should be thoroughly disinfected, but at the same time they are telling us that toilet seats have some magical property that they are able to resist viruses.”
He also tried to alert people to a “secret gay affirmative action plan,” saying “You can bet the rent money they will demand that employers set up goals and timetables to achieve 10 percent homosexual representation in the workforce and in government contracts.”
Ben Grant, the chairman of the Maine Democratic Party, called for Lockman to resign in light of these statements, calling them “hateful, vicious, and offensive.” Grant also called Lockman “disturbed individual who holds some of the most abhorrent beliefs ever heard from a public official in Maine.”
Lockman has refused to respond to direct questions but released a statement, saying “I have always been passionate about my beliefs, and years ago I said things that I regret. I hold no animosity toward anyone by virtue of their gender or sexual orientation, and today I am focused on ensuring freedom and economic prosperity for all Mainers.”
Read more at http://issuehawk.com/igor/2014/03/04/republican-if-a-woman-has-right-to-an-abortion-a-man-should-have-right-to-force-himself-on-a-woman.html#rkhUFVjcO40A5Q4l.99
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