During a news conference held in a Fort Worth church, Perry was asked what he would tell Texas gay and lesbian war veterans returning home from war about the law. Governor Perry responded, according to the Fort Worth Star Telegram, by saying that “Texans made a decision about marriage and if there's a state that has more lenient views than Texas, then maybe that’s a better place for them to live.”

KeyWest Guy:
Isn't he a vet of some sort?

RazorbackTX:
Oh, by the way, Perry was endorsed by Uncle Tom's Log Cabin in his last race for gov.
They praised him as \"good for gays.\"
Way to go guys.

swiminbuff:
....\"what the hell were you thinking \" when you voted for them.

swiminbuff:
\"what the hell were you thinking \" when you voted for them.

bobby78751:
I sure wasn't voting for the Aggie manwhore.

bobby78751:
I voted for the democrat alternative who was suspected of money laundering thru his banks. I sure wasn't voting for the Aggie manwhore. Why can't we have a reasonable democratic candidate in this state?

DallasUNC:
When is Anne Richards coming back? Sheesh.

swiminbuff:
... I mean, do these people live in some sort of Pleasantville bubble and don't realize the world is changing all around them...

millerbeach:
I for one would be very happy for the United States if we were rid of these two troublesome states. My only concern is my parents live in Florida, and my brother lives in Texas. Maybe we could exempt Austin. It's a cool city, and plus Bobby lives there.

bobby78751:
Travis County (where Austin is) was the only county from South Texas due north to some counties in Kansas to vote for John Kerry. So, I'd appreciate you not selling me off to Castro...though some on here who want to squash criticisms probably view me as a Castro disciple--not even close. Their communist viewpoints and arrogance match Castro more than I do.

fantomas:
Methinks he was defending you, Bobby!

Perry said he could have signed the bills in the parking lot of a Wal-Mart, but it wasn't the location that was the eye-opener on Sunday. It was Perry's backslapping companions on stage at the event. Consider the words offered by televangelist Rod Parsley, who preceded Perry and praised him for his godly stand, saying the effects of the homosexual agenda in American were substantial. Most homosexuals were anything but happy and carefree, Parsley told the crowd – many suffer from low self-esteem and depression.

\"Gay sex is a veritable breeding ground for disease,\" Parsley went on. \"Only 1 percent of the homosexual population in America will die of old age. The average life expectancy for a homosexual in the United States of America, discounting AIDS, is 42 years of age. Their heterosexual counterpart is 75. A lesbian can only expect to live to be 45 years of age. Her heterosexual counterpart is 79. Homosexuals represent 2 percent of the population, yet today they're carrying 60 percent of the known cases of syphilis. We must not chance an untested social experiment with the security of our children.\"

gmginsfo:
All I can say is that the Texas lefties on this board and he deserve each other.

bobby78751:
...we'll all be exterminated within the next 10 or 15 years!

bobby78751:
Check out what a televangelist had to say last weekend at the bill signing Perry staged at a Christian school (keep in mind this was directly before Perry took the stage):

\\"Perry schmoozes with gay bashers\\"

swiminbuff:

RazorbackTX:
Is there something in your water supply in Texas that produces this kind of idiocy?

Yes, George Bush made some grape KoolAid from the water and has been passing it out to all his buddies.

(Log Cabin has the assignement of picking up all the used paper cups.)

At a June 5 event in the gym of a Fort Worth church, Perry signed into law a measure requiring a minor to obtain parental consent for an abortion and signed a proposed amendment to the state constitution defining marriage as between a man and woman.

His signature on the amendment was symbolic since it qualified for the November ballot simply by actions of the Texas House and Senate.

After the signing, a reporter asked Perry how he would tell Texas' gay and lesbian veterans that they can't come home from Iraq and marry.

Perry said, \"I'm going to say Texas has made a decision on marriage, and if there's a state with more lenient views than Texas, then maybe that's where they should live.\"

His response, aired by a Fort Worth TV station, recognized that Texas lawmakers outlawed gay marriage by law two years ago, a Perry spokesman said.

\"As an Air Force veteran himself, (Perry) certainly believes that all our heroes are always welcome to come home,\" Robert Black said in an e-mail.

Perry's words brought him a cascade of critical e-mail, with more than 140 notes suggesting that he unnecessarily attacked both gays and veterans in what one writer called \"hatespeak.\"

Larry Don Shaw, a Democratic Texas House member with Perry in the 1980s, wrote Perry in an e-mail: \"We need leaders such as you who can help us to remember that we must be united as a people even when we disagree on issues.\"

Three groups — the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network, the Lesbian/Gay Rights Lobby of Texas and American Veterans for Equal Rights — said Perry should apologize.

\"Such a person has no business serving in office,\" A.J. Rogue, national president of the veterans group, said in an e-mail, saying Perry's comments \"not only reek of McCarthyism and Naziism, they truly have no place coming from one of our elected representatives of government.\"

About 10 messages to Perry endorsed his comment.

Cathy Cannon of Weatherford, an Army veteran, wrote: \"I am happy to see you helping to keep Texan values. If you are not Texan then you can't understand. If we could get all of the whinebags to move somewhere else we would be a lot better off.\"