This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Pigsonthewing (talk | contribs) at 20:11, 21 November 2003. The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.
Revision as of 20:11, 21 November 2003 by Pigsonthewing (talk | contribs)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)Richard John "Rick" Santorum (born May 10, 1958) is a Republican U.S. Senator representing Pennsylvania. Among other responsibilities, he is the chairman of the Senate Republican Conference, the number three job in the party's leadership.
Santorum, a conservative, is the author of the failed Santorum Amendment which attempted to relativize the teaching of biological evolution in U.S. public schools. The Senate passed a weaker non-binding version of the amendment, which two Ohio Congressmen have invoked to suggest that the state should include "intelligent design" or creationism in its science standards.
In an interview with the Associated Press published April 20, 2003, Santorum made controversial comments regarding the then-upcoming U.S. Supreme Court case Lawrence v. Texas, which challenged a Texas sodomy law. "If the Supreme Court says that you have the right to consensual sex within your home," Santorum said, "then you have the right to bigamy, you have the right to polygamy, you have the right to incest, you have the right to adultery. You have the right to anything."
The following day, Democrats as well as gay rights groups demanded an apology. The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) called on Santorum to step down as chairman of the Senate Republican Conference.
Santorum refused to apologize, stating that his comments were not intended to equate homosexuality with incest and adultery, but rather as a critique of a specific legal position: that the right to privacy prevents the government from regulating consensual acts among adults. Something close to this position was in fact later adopted by the US Supreme Court in the Lawrence decision.
In response to Santorum's comments, the gay sex-advice columnist Dan Savage challenged his readers to come up with a sex-related definition for the word santorum as a satirical form of political protest. The winning definition: "the frothy mix of sexual lubricant and fecal matter that is sometimes the byproduct of anal sex".
Links and references
- Dan Savage opens the "santorum" challenge "Savage Love", May 15, 2003
- Dan Savage announces the winning definition "Savage Love", June 12, 2003
- More discussion on promoting the definition "Savage Love", August 28, 2003
- Dan Savage announces goal of making his definition the top hit on Google "Savage Love", November 20, 2003