John Cox, one of the Republican candidates for governor, suggested gay rights could “open the floodgates to polygamy and bestiality,” bemoaned “transvestites who want to be school teachers,” and vowed to veto any hate crime legislation during a 2007 political debate.
His incendiary comments, made at a conservative forum during his long-shot bid for the presidency, clash with the no-nonsense, anti-politician image the San Diego County businessman has tried to portray during his campaign in California over the last year.
When asked at the Values Voter Presidential Debate in September 2007 what he would do to “counteract the homosexual agenda,” Cox said Republicans should “stand up for the proper behavior” and “talk about the fact that we can’t open the floodgates to polygamy and bestiality and all kinds of other things.” He noted, “we also have this problem with transvestites who want to be school teachers,” arguing that the Republican Party should support school choice and home-schooling so “we won’t have to deal with that.”
According to a transcript of the debate, Cox also answered several yes-or-no questions about LGBT rights, replying that he would “veto any so-called hate crimes legislation” and “support legislation ensuring that schools forfeit federal funding if they expose our children to homosexual propaganda.” He also said he would veto the Employment Non-Discrimination Act — a bill prohibiting employment discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity — as well as “any other legislation that would add the phrase ‘sexual orientation’ into federal law.”
And in a post on his campaign website at the time, he argued that courts were forcing “so-called ‘gay marriage’ or ‘civil unions’ onto the people,” and promised to support a federal constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage in order to “stand for the traditional American family.”
In a statement to the Bay Area News Group on Monday, Cox said his views had changed.
“This is settled law by decisions of the United States Supreme Court and like many Californians, my views have evolved over the last decade,” Cox said. “I concluded that it was inconsistent with my support for individual liberty, limited government and the right to privacy. The focus of my campaign is economic growth and freedom and I’m looking forward to engaging the LGBTQ community and all Californians to revive the California Dream.”
When asked if he still opposed hate crimes legislation, Cox said that “laws in society should protect all, regardless of of race, color, sexual orientation, creed or income.”
During the debate, Cox did say that “this is a free country, and we have to respect people’s freedom to do what they want to do,” adding, “I don’t know that we help ourselves when we try to moralize to a large part of the country that is not a believer like us.”
Melissa Michelson, a political science professor at Menlo College who studies public opinion on LGBT issues, said it was unclear whether voters would punish Cox for 11-year-old statements.
“When he said it in 2007, he was more in the mainstream,” she said. “But when you look at how public opinion has shifted towards the LGBT community over time, it’s dramatic… these views are out of step with Californians today.”
Cox’s presidential campaign never gained traction, and he dropped out of the race before the primaries. Now he has the most campaign funds of any Republican in the governor’s race and has led the GOP candidates in several polls, although other polls suggest no Republicans will make it past the top-two primary in June.
One of the other Republicans in the race, former Sacramento-area Congressman Doug Ose, took several pro-gay rights votes when he served in Congress between 1999 and 2005. Ose voted against the federal amendment to ban same-sex marriage that Cox endorsed, and also voted against legislation that would have banned adoptions by same-sex couples in Washington, D.C. State Assemblyman Travis Allen, an Orange County Republican who only entered politics in 2012, doesn’t have as long of a record on the issue.
The California Democratic Party blasted Cox after the revelations about his statements first appeared in a story on the Bay Area News Group’s websites on Monday. “These hateful comments are a total deal-breaker for the vast majority of Californians, and whatever minuscule chance he had of becoming governor just wilted faster than you can say Rick Santorum,” said spokesman John Vigna, referring to the former Pennsylvania senator known for his opposition to gay rights.
LGBT rights hasn’t played a major role in the governor’s race so far. On Monday, Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom launched his first ad of the campaign, highlighting his decision as San Francisco mayor in 2004 to grant same-sex marriage licenses in violation of state law. The ad, which includes footage of Newsom marrying LGBT rights activists Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon in 2008, will run on social media sites statewide before airing on TV in the coming months.
The other Democratic candidates argued that their bona fides on LGBT issues were just as strong or stronger. Antonio Villaraigosa’s campaign released a statement from John Pérez, the gay former speaker of the State Assembly — and Villaraigosa’s cousin — who noted that the former Los Angeles mayor publicly supported same-sex marriage at a meeting of the Stonewall Democratic Club in 1994.
“Ideas like domestic partnerships were still years away and many Democrats saw LGBT rights as a third-rail issue,” Pérez said of the political environment 24 years ago. “Not Antonio. He came to our meeting and asked for our support. And during the question-and-answer portion, when he was asked if he supported same-sex marriage, he very matter-of-factly answered ‘yes.’ … I felt chills down my spine.”
State Treasurer John Chiang pointed to his record advocating for more LGBT people on corporate boards, and former state schools chief Delaine Eastin started the first LGBT task force at the state Department of Education in order to help LGBT students feel more welcomed. All four Democrats campaigned against the anti-same-sex marriage Proposition 8 in 2008.
