The new chief Republican counsel for the Senate Judiciary Committee wrote a blog post last month in which he linked same-sex marriage to pedophilia, according to a Web site that has since been taken down.
The post by William Smith responded to a recent speech by Steve Schmidt, a Republican campaign consultant who advised Sen. John McCain’s presidential campaign. Speaking in Washington to the Log Cabin Republicans, a gay rights group, Schmidt had urged Republicans to support same-sex marriage.
“I wonder if next week Schmidt will take his close minded stump speech to a NAMBLA meeting. For those unfamiliar with NAMBLA, the acronym is for North American Man Boy Love Association,” Smith responded on wsmith.org in a post dated April 20.
Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) announced Smith as chief counsel May 13, after Sessions replaced Sen. Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania as the top Republican on the Judiciary Committee. Sessions named three other lawyers to top positions as part of a sweep of Specter’s former committee staff.
Smith’s Web site is no longer visible, though Google has kept a “cached,” or archived, version of the site. It was visible earlier this month. The mailing address, e-mail address, and phone number on the Web site’s domain name registration match the address and phone number on Smith’s Alabama bar registration.
Other commentators — including California preacher Rick Warren — have been criticized for making a similar comparison between homosexuality and pedophilia. Smith did not respond to an interview request. Two spokespeople for Sessions also did not respond.
Smith’s post continued:
Schmidt would quickly tell you that he is not advocating that we support 60 year old men in their desire to rape 8 year old boys, but he would not classify his opposition as narrow minded. No! This is a principled position; there is some logic behind it, Schmidt would say.
Is Schmidt then going to take his close minded stump speech to the Bestiality Club? Again, his answer would be no, although there are a group of people who embrace this lifestyle.
Schmidt and other gay lifestyle proponents would say that my opposition is based on the slippery slope approach. I say that it is based on principle and that it is no more close minded than their position for gay unions. The difference between me and Schmidt is that I’m not a maverick. I’m guided by something called Christian principles. And I don’t need people in California, New York and Washington to tell me what the principles should be.
Smith worked for Sessions from 2001 to 2006. He was Sessions’ chief counsel on a Senate Judiciary subcommittee when he left. Most recently, Smith served as executive director of congressional relations at Americans for Limited Government, according to a Sessions news release.
In an interview last week for C-SPAN, Sessions praised his new staff. He said they would be more likely than Specter’s staff to advance a core Republican agenda, which usually includes opposition to same-sex marriage. Specter has supported civil unions for gays and lesbians.
“They’ll be a principled staff that [is] probably more uniformly in accord with the basic Republican view of the Constitution and law. And I think that’s healthy,” Sessions said. “The ranking member should — normally, you would expect them to have a staff that supports a majority of the [Republicans on the] committee. Sometimes, [under] Senator Specter, one member was taking our staff and promoting other agendas. So I think we’ll be more in harmony with the basic group of Republican senators.”
Comparing sex with kids to same sex marriages is just plain ignorant. No one would condone having sex with someone who can't make those types of adult decisions. Ridiculous and hateful. They are just reaching, now.
Posted by: Ares Vista | June 01, 2009 at 02:26 PM
First, let's make this as plain as possible: men who rape little boys and girls have heterosexual adult relationships and identify as straight--almost 100& of the time. Gay men are attracted the masculine features that come after puberty--duh! This is typical misdirection by "christians" who are desperately citing different studies that suggest gay men are SLIGHTLY more likely to have sex with someone that is under age (post pubescent seventeen-year-olds with a percentage difference of less than 3). The real monsters, like the pedophile catholic priests, are almost invariably heterosexual men--at least statistically.
Posted by: Lee | May 24, 2009 at 07:16 PM
Yesterday, this individual wrote:
"Posted by: M Besse | May 21, 2009 at 11:25 PM
"There is no evidence that homosexuality is in any way related to pedophilia. That's just absurd, ignorant bigotry. However, it's trivially easy to show a compelling link between Catholic clergy and pedophilia. I suggest that we investigate that, first."
Of course we can investigate them, Mr. Besse. And perhaps we can find that the "link" of Catholic clergy to pedophilia is the wholesale invasion of the Catholic church's clerical institutions--seminaries and clerical orders--by radical homosexuals over 40 years--who would see the ready availability of young boys and teens as a veritable feast of perverted sexual pleasure. Yes, amazing how one's argument goes back to the fundamental fact: homosexuality is a sinful and evil perversion of God's gift of sex, and those who radically advance it must be resisted by all non-violent means necessary.
Posted by: Floyd Fernandez | May 22, 2009 at 04:41 AM
If you think gays are born that way instead of making a choice, thus deserving of civil rights, will you grant the same rights to pedophiles when it is also demonstrated that they are 'born that way'?
Why is two persons the limit? Surely some of you are capable of "Big Love."
If the bedroom door is off-limits for government intrusion, does that include allowing adult children and their parents to make whatever whoopie they please?
Amazing how little logic will be employed but how much angry rhetoric will follow.
Posted by: M Besse | May 21, 2009 at 11:25 PM
There is no evidence that homosexuality is in any way related to pedophilia. That's just absurd, ignorant bigotry. However, it's trivially easy to show a compelling link between Catholic clergy and pedophilia. I suggest that we investigate that, first.
Posted by: Michael McGinnis | May 21, 2009 at 12:20 PM
I agree and that's the reason, gays marriage is high risk for our society; and i hope no adoption allow for gays; they want kids, let them get their own.
gays life full by social issues, health, and immorality act- it's a choice-.
we shouldn't cover our eyes and ignore to act against gays marriage under human rights; becaus there are no right to be gays and illegal act to legalize it.
So, there is no life could come from gays....
Posted by: mohamed | May 20, 2009 at 11:31 PM
I'm gay and I have three children. I have never had sex with any of them or their friends. Could be that they just don't find me that attractive. Oh well.
Thanks Sen Sessions from one of your constituents - you continue to make us all so proud. We love being seen nationally as one of the most backwards places on earth, right up there with other religious fundamentalists who scare the world. Your belief in freedom in America (as long as it looks and acts just like you) is overwhelming. Thank you for exhibiting everything that is wrong in America and doing it so with no shame or remorse.
Posted by: JT | May 20, 2009 at 10:13 AM
"I’m guided by something called Christian principles. And I don’t need people in California, New York and Washington to tell me what the principles should be."
I'm guided by something called the Constitution, particularly the Establishment Clause in this case, which has been interpreted to prohibit the support of a religious idea with no identifiable secular purpose. If the only argument against gay marriage are a person's "Christian beliefs" then any law prohibiting gay marriage has no identifiable secular purpose and is therefore unconstitutional. The Equal Protection clause also seems particularly relevant...
Posted by: BD | May 20, 2009 at 09:27 AM
The GOP has become the political version of The Gong Show. Each member,supporter tries to be more insane than the next person.
Posted by: WDRussell | May 20, 2009 at 08:28 AM
Automatically saying because a person is gay he is a child molester shows the content of the mind of the person saying it. Such reasoning without actual proof sounds a lot like psychological projection, you know that's where I accuse you of doing what I think about doing.
This also reminds me of the false logic of the syllogism: Dogs like dog food. John likes dog food; therefore, John is a dog.
I don't have any numbers, but I would like to see some. I bet more straight folks lust after youth than gays do.
Posted by: makaainana | May 20, 2009 at 05:59 AM
Calling Smith a bigot is like calling water wet. Clearly, if he wasn't proud of his bigotry, he wouldn't have paraded it in a blog post. Too bad for him he realized too late that his words have political implications. And how spineless of him to not even be willing to answer questions about his words; apparently those christian principles don't include a requirement to stand for what you say.
Posted by: bookishatx | May 20, 2009 at 05:49 AM
Republicans just keep making things up as they go along. The reality is that over 98% of pedophiles are heterosexual. Ergo, virtually all of NAMBLA membership is heterosexual.
Posted by: Pat Williams | May 20, 2009 at 03:16 AM
"If William Smith wants to judge every gay person by the existence of NAMBLA, then I'm entitled to judge all white heterosexual males by the existence of the KKK."
Excellent analogy! Quote of the week so far.
Posted by: Account Deleted | May 19, 2009 at 07:52 PM
Thank you google for caching the blog. I certainly would want delete it if I had written it.
Willam Smith he's so coy. Mean Spirited to boot. A good Christian by his own account. In his own words "I’m guided by something called Christian principles".
So much for separation of church and state if he gets his way.
Posted by: Shaman | May 19, 2009 at 07:50 PM
I find comfort in the fact that one day soon, all of this ridiculous stuff about Gay marriage will all be history.
Gays will have their civil rights!!!
All men are created equal. All.
(It's kind of fun though to see the Old Repubs freak out and show their true colors.)
Posted by: Sarah Johnson | May 19, 2009 at 07:37 PM
RIP GOP. They are ensuring their own demise just as we are the planet's, prospecting for oil in the melting Arctic Circle. Some parallels were meant for each other, though fewer will miss the GOP... It seems that in any gap where reason could prevail some new talking head, a la Dick Cheney, tosses something else into the stew that cements the GOP as a conflicted, narcissistic, paranoid, and xenophobic bunch.
Posted by: Adrian in Ellicott City | May 19, 2009 at 07:31 PM
Disgraceful. My guess is that Sessions agrees but is smart enough not to tell publicly. His praise for the guy tells you all you need to know.
Posted by: Chris | May 19, 2009 at 06:56 PM
If William Smith wants to judge every gay person by the existence of NAMBLA, then I'm entitled to judge all white heterosexual males by the existence of the KKK.
Posted by: Jeff Allison | May 19, 2009 at 06:53 PM
Funny how I never think about bestiality except when Republicans bring it up, which they seem to do a lot; and even then, my first thought is of Republicans=red states=horny farm boys. But their constant mention of it has made me realize I may be in denial. From now on, whenever I see a guy with a dog and no apparent girlfriend, I will be watching closely. And if there are excessive displays of affection between them, like a lot of licking, I might even call the Humane Society to have it checked out. Could be those "beasty boys" are just more "in the closet" than gays but once we do gay marriage, they'll start popping out, wanting to claim their "rights."
--Thanks, Republicans, for keeping a close, close eye on the "big picture" and alerting me to a situation that is no doubt much more prevalent than I've realized. Now excuse me, I've got to go spend some time with my long-haired, lovely cat....
Posted by: aboutime | May 19, 2009 at 06:46 PM
I wonder how Dick Cheney feels about all of this, considering he has a gay daughter.
Posted by: Sandy Shahwan | May 19, 2009 at 06:17 PM
What a superb piece of journalism.
I'm pleased that Smith was self-aware enough of his own bigotry to remove the reference. A tacit acceptance of the unacceptability of such a suggestion.
Amazing how the GOP is so capable of marginalizing its moderate wing!
Posted by: T Rice | May 19, 2009 at 03:09 PM