Herman Cain Insists Being Gay Is a 'Choice' and Homosexuality Is 'Sin'
Republican presidential Candidate Herman Cain insists that being gay is a personal choice in an interview on CNN Wednesday, as he had in previous interviews in which he also called homosexuality a "sin."
The former CEO of Godfather's Pizza and Baptist minister told CNN's Piers Morgan, "Although people don't agree with me, I happen to think that it is a personal choice."
Political analysts speculate that the businessman's stance could be beneficial to his campaign in early primary states such as Iowa and South Carolina, where social conservatives are influential in selecting a nominee.
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When Morgan posed the analogy that Cain's stance is similar to being told that he was born black, Cain responded: "You know that's not true. I was born black." He added that his race "doesn’t wash off."
Cain's statement is a reiteration of comments he made earlier this month on the ABC morning program "The View," when he said "yes" to the question of whether or not he thought being gay is a choice.
Joy Behar, one of the program's co-hosts, responded to the Cain's stance on the homosexuality by saying, "I don't know how to respond to that, I mean I don't think that anybody in this world wants to be gay, considering all of the vilification that is brought upon someone who is gay. Why would you choose that?"
The former Atlanta radio host, said, "Well, you show me the science that says that it's not, and I could be persuaded. Right now it's my opinion against the opinion of others who feel differently. That's just a difference of opinion."
In an interview with CBS News' Brian Montopoli in June, Cain elaborated on his opinion concerning homosexuality.
"I believe homosexuality is a sin because I'm a Bible-believing Christian, I believe it's a sin," he said. "But I know that some people make that choice. That's their choice."
Cain also weighed in on the issue of abortion during his CNN interview Wednesday, stating that he believes life "begins at conception" and "under no circumstances" does he support abortion.
He tempered his statement by giving allowance to a woman's personal choice in deciding on whether to have an abortion: "The government shouldn't be trying to tell people everything to do, especially when it comes to social decisions they have to make."
