FILE - In this Feb. 26, 2015 file photo, Ben Carson speaks in National Harbor, Md. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster, File)
“A lot of people who go into prison, go into prison straight, and when they come out, they’re gay. So did something happen while they were in there?” Carson said, who has said marriage should be between a man and a woman.
CNN host Chris Cuomo countered Carson’s statement, saying: “Most people never go to prison, and you know there’s a whole theory of dominance.”
“Wait a minute. I said a lot of people who go in come out [gay]. Are you denying that that’s true?” Carson asked.
“I am not denying that that’s true, but I am denying that that’s as a basis of understanding homosexuality,” Cuomo responded.
“If in fact that is the case, then it obviously thwarts what you just said,” Carson said.
“A lot of people go into jail as a drug addict, and they come out as a criminal. Does that mean that all drug addicts are criminals?” Cuomo asked.
Carson said the issue of gay marriage is one of legal rights in cases of property and visitation.
“Here’s what’s important: Why do gay people want to get married? Because they want to have various rights – property rights, visitation rights,” he said.
“They want their commitment to count just like mine and my wife’s,” Cuomo said.
“Why can’t any two human beings--I don’t care what their sexual orientation is--why can’t they have the legal right to do those things?” Carson asked.
“That’s what they’re fighting for,” Cuomo said.
“Okay, that does not require changing the definition of marriage,” Carson said.
“But it would require covering that union as you do others, which is called marriage in our society,” Cuomo said.
“I don’t think so,” Carson responded.
Earlier in the interview, Cuomo asked: “One issue: same-sex marriage. You have equal protection. It’s working its way through the courts. The decisions are getting more and more uniform, but then you have people of faith who say, ‘Marriage is ours. God says it is a man and a woman. The Bible says, my faith says…’ Which one wins with Dr. Carson?”
“Here’s what I would do. I would do what the Constitution says. Constitution says: civil issue of that nature should be determined at the state level. Why does it say that? Because the judicial system at the state level has to answer to the people,” Carson responded.
“What if people of the state vote for a law 100 to 0 that winds up infringing on the rights of a minority, like happened very often with slavery, like many would argue is happening now with people who are gay?” CNN host Chris Cuomo asked.
“And our Constitution was followed, and we corrected those things,” Carson said.
“And isn’t that what’s happening right now? Same-sex marriage is being corrected as a form of violation of equal protection,” Cuomo said.
Carson said that comparison is invalid, “because people have no control over their race, for instance,” but they “absolutely” have control over their sexuality.