Spending time in prison causes homosexuality, according to newly announced Republican presidential candidate Ben Carson.
Carson, retired head of pediatric neurosurgery at Johns Hopkins Hospital, declared Tuesday he will run for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination. He told a CNN interviewer Wednesday he “absolutely” thinks being gay is a choice.
“Because a lot of people who go into prison go into prison straight — and when they come out, they’re gay. So, did something happen while they were in there? Ask yourself that question,” Carson said in an interview with CNN’s Chris Cuomo that aired Wednesday.
His argument about prison turning people homosexual “thwarts” the argument that homosexuality isn’t a choice, Carson said. The recipient of a 2008 Presidential Medal of Freedom also believes states should make the decision to allow or ban same-sex marriage. The Supreme Court will hear a case this spring that could end up legalizing gay marriage across the nation.
“Why do gay people want to get married? Why do they say they want to get married? Because they want to have various rights — property rights, visitation rights,” he said. “Why can’t any two human beings, I don’t care what their sexual orientation is, why can’t they have the legal right to do those things? That does not require changing the definition of marriage,” he said.
Carson announced Tuesday he had filed paperwork to run for president in 2016. According to a RealClearPolitics average of polls, he is fourth in a crowded 2016 field. At 12.3 percentage points, he is within striking distance of the leader, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, who has 15 percent.
