Republicans and rape comments appear to have an almost cyclic regularity with election periods. If you recall, the Republicans were in a strong position last elections when candidates started making bizarre and at times creepy comments — alienating voters and tipping the balance in the Senate.
Now, Republican Maine state Representative Lawrence Lockman appears to have lined up early in the rape theme line (as early as 1995) in addition to extreme statements regarding abortion and homosexuality is under fire for comments he’s made in the media regarding rape, abortion, and homosexuality.
An activist uncovered a press statement in 1995 in which Lockman reportedly 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.” What is most remarkable about this statement — other than the statement itself — is that I find it virtually incomprehensible beyond treating rape as a casual analogy. Moreover, it is reported that this was in an actual press statement not some comment at a bar or unguarded email. He likewise said in a letter to Bangor News that “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.”
He is also accused of once suggesting that the HIV virus can be spread through mosquitoes and bed sheets. He opposed HIV infected students attending school by 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.” Lockman also reportedly asserted that liberals made AIDS epidemic worse by assuring “the public that the practice of sodomy is a legitimate alternative lifestyle, rather than a perverted and depraved crime against humanity.” He once warned that there could be a quota system on the way to require gays and lesbians in every workplace: “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.”
Lockman responded to the criticism by 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.” As long, presumably, that they do not use the toilets or engage in homosexual relations.
In his official bio, it states that
Lockman studied liberal arts at Covenant College in Lookout Mountain, Georgia and Pasadena City College in Pasadena, California. He is a 1967 graduate of Philmont Christian Academy in Jenkintown, Pa.
He works as a Territory Manager in eastern and central Maine for National Write Your Congressman (nwyc.com), a non-partisan legislative research organization with members in all 50 states.
From 1992 to 2010, Lockman worked as a Territory Manager in eastern Maine for the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB), and qualified numerous times for NFIB’s prestigious President’s Club, as well as the biennial Small Business Summit in Washington, DC. Prior to his tenure at NFIB, Lockman was employed for 16 years at Diamond Occidental’s lumber mill in Passadumkeag.
However, he does say that he “regrets” the bit about rape.
Paul:
Qualified people are denied jobs because their voice is annoying, they are too attractive or not attractive enough, too young or too old, political affiliation, personal reputation, etc.
What do you think the chances are for a candidate applying for a position in NPR who arrives at the interview wearing an “I love Anne Coulter” button?
Didn’t Professor Turley just write about people getting fired for personal, private sexual behavior and social media comments?
I don’t want anyone to be fired or not hired specifically because they are gay, but to imply that prejudice never happens to heterosexual people is incorrect.
I wonder how long ago the toilet comment was made.
When the AIDS epidemic hit, they did not know how it was spread. Rock Hudson was revealed to have AIDS after he kissed Linda Evans on Dynasty. He had given her a peck, at first, so they later reshot it. Linda believed he was trying to protect her. Because, in those days, they didn’t really know how easy it was to spread. After that, she said other actors were afraid to shake her hand, be in the same room with her, or let the makeup artist work on her. Dark days. And after the medical community did discover how the virus spreads, it took a long time for the information to disseminate to the community.
If sexual orientation is a protected status, and Affirmative Action rears its head again, then, yes, there could be quotas just like there were with other minorities. People can argue all day that quotas and lowered standards didn’t happen, but it’s documented. But it sounded like he was more unfriendly towards gays than he was towards the AA program. I recall when I was a kid, “f^*g” was a curse word. It’s taken a long time for attitudes to change, to have more understanding about innate sexuality.
The rape comment is a mistake of Titanic proportions. It’s hard not to strangle him through the computer. I suppose he was trying to say that if women can “murder” the helpless fetuses inside them, then what’s the difference between men raping women who are similarly helpless? He would have come out better if he’d just thrown a ham at the premise and been done with it. Use rape as an analogy for anything?! Moron!
I have more tolerance for stupid things said decades ago. Less tolerant the more recent they are. Less tolerant if their position seems to evolve for political expediency. The salient point is what these politicians truly believe, once you get past the pandering. Because they represent us and they affect our laws.
bettykath wrote “I don’t see how this is a ‘special’ right … Why should LGBTs be denied a job based on the sexual orientation or gender identity?”
Because there are no similar protections for redheads, albinos, goths, pagans, metalheads, etc.
I have been denied a job because I was male. I have been denied a job because I was white and I have been denied a job because of my age (either too young or too old).
His comments about abortion and rape are all about controlling women, one way or another.
Saucy: Obama just announced his most recent push to create special rights for LGBTs. Reuters noted that Obama wants to “make it illegal for companies with U.S. government contracts to fire or avoid hiring employees based on sexual orientation and gender identity.”
I don’t see how this is a “special” right. Why should LGBTs be denied a job based on the sexual orientation or gender identity? The right to a job based on qualifications to do the job is one that is taken for granted for heterosexuals. It’s time homosexuals had that same right.
Cold I am sure causes TBI.
Margy – long time until November. If he uses the Hillary “that is old news” meme, he can surely get past all of it. Plus he is right on at least some of it.
Paul C. Schulte wrote “There is an startling increase in HIV among gay males right now”
Quite right. The CDC’s graph shows that white, black, and Hispanic MSM (men who have sex with men) are the three largest groups of new HIV infections. The fourth largest group is black heterosexual women, which makes one wonder if that is due to needle sharing or black MSM being criminally selfish with their wives and girlfriends. All other categories of HIV cases pale in comparison to the big-four, but fifth-place is occupied by black heterosexual men with a level of slightly less than half that of black heterosexual women.
http://www.cdc.gov/msmhealth/HIV-infections-graph.htm
Well, with any luck there will be a New Democratic state rep come election time.
Color me speechless.
Lockman’s analogy has to do with controlling your own body. And he makes a very funny analogy. You are making more of it than there is. You are also using ‘presentism’ to define the situation. It was 19 years ago. If we (meaning the progressives on here) can defend Hillary over her defense of the rapist of a 12 year old why are we getting our shorts in a knot about this?
There is an startling increase in HIV among gay males right now and Lockman is dead right about the quota system for gays.
Lockman’s comments with respect to rape are despicable, but this one is interesting: “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.”
Obama just announced his most recent push to create special rights for LGBTs. Reuters noted that Obama wants to “make it illegal for companies with U.S. government contracts to fire or avoid hiring employees based on sexual orientation and gender identity.”
Reuters noted that “the order would apply to about 20 percent of the U.S. workforce, according to gay rights group Human Rights Campaign.” Except that even the very liberal Atlantic Magazine admitted that the percentage of homosexuals is “probably less than 2 percent.” HRC is lying to push its agenda and Reuters is too biased to care..
Reuters: “Obama says to bar LGBT discrimination by federal contractors”
The Atlantic: “Americans Have No Idea How Few Gay People There Are”
Joe Biden – Need I say more?
I grew up in New England, spent some time in Maine, and had a large group of transplanted Mainiacs in my town. We called them “potato pickers.” Up until @ least the 70’s, Maine schools were dismissed for a week in the Fall for potato picking. Mainiacs are a different breed. The folks in the larger cities are classic New Englanders, but you get out in the rural areas and those folks will go toe to toe w/ any hillbilly from the Ozarks. if you do a background on this guy, I bet his family just started walking upright a couple generations ago in the northern woods.
Wow. That deserves a double-take. You ask yourself, “how can this be?” It will be interesting to see if voters send this wacko packing. But, then again, I bet we would be surprised by the number of snickering supporters who say, “oh, he just says things like that…” and keep supporting him.
19 year old statements from some nutcase, from a nutcase District. Not news.
So we’re now using 20 year old statements against people in public office? It’s an idiotic comment to be sure, but this is destructive to the process as a whole. There needed to be a statute of limitations when running for office. Otherwise don’t be surprised at the caliber of people we get representing us.bai
Karen and blhlls, I can tell you from personal hard experience that older while males ARE routinely discriminated against and despite the law, nothing is done and the laws are violated. I was fired from my job as an airline captain when I turned 60.. Prior to my being hired, I was not hired because I was an older white, veteran male who worked at United Airlines as a mechanic. United had entered into an agreement with the government because they had discriminated in a gross way against women and minorities. I am still in favor of preferential hiring to make up for past discrimination, but ONLY if two candidates have equal qualifications. I my case, a fellow flight instructor in the Bay Area was a female with about 700 hrs of flight time. I applied at the same time with far superior qualifications since I had 2000 hrs of flight time, a jet type rating. Our chief pilot also applied and he was a laid off US Air pilot with 5000 hrs and lots of jet time as an F/O. He could not even get an interview, while our junior flight instructor was hired! I was informed by United that I did not have the qualifications that they were looking for, so I quit and went out and got a job flying to get white mans time flying to qualify. I ran into a flight engineer who was black when I was jumpseating on United, and he told me he was hired with only 1200 hrs of flight time. So white males had to have at least 10 times the hours and qualifications of women and minorities.
Then I was a client of Prof Turley in our suit against the FAA and ALPA for the gross bill of attainder that the Congress passed when they raised the age limit. The SCOTUS refused to even hear our case despite Prof Turley’s outstanding efforts. They had no problem dismissing it since we all are Vietnam era veterans and mainly older white males. All government agencies simply said thanks for your service, screw you suckers! I do have to point out that the good black Congresswoman from Texas, Sheila Jackson Lee fought for us in Congress when she broke with the ALPA serving Democrats and became a co-sponsor of our legislation that would have gotten me my job back She thinks that discrimination against older white males is just as bad as that against minorities, and she did so without getting a dime in contributions or a single vote. Something that the GOP sponsors DID get.
Another outright flouting of the law occurred when the airlines refused to follow the law in providing alternate options for us older pilots when we hit the age 60 rule. Since most of us are Vietnam era veterans, the law demands that ALL Federal contractors, which ALL airlines are since they fly the mail, provide special options if an employee who is a Vietnam veteran is laid off or become unable to do his current job. They MUST offer alternate employment at another suitable job if one is available and NOT fire that veteran. Most of the vets like myself were unaware of this law, as were most airlines. Since it was not posted on company property like most discrimination laws, most of us did not use that law and file timely complaints. This in many cases as the courts have ruled in NOT disqualifying to a valid complaint. The Dept of Labor and the EEOC, both REFUSED to take any case on this. There were a number of pilots who DID file timely complaints, yet ALL government agencies tasked with enforcing the law simply said that they refused to do so. So don’t accept the LIE that we are not a class that has been discriminated against!
we are without comment.
What’s even more remarkable than his shameful, deplorable and ignorant views is that the Maine electorate found him in-majority qualified to hold higher office. Blaming the elected idiots for their actions is all fine, but the real blame is at the hands of those who vote for and support these miscreants.
He needs to be run through that mill, not just returned.
Probably time for him to return to the lumber mill and spare Maine the embarrassment.