Tennessee State Sen. Stacey Campfield (R) has been on a press junket to stump for an enhanced version of his controversial and much-criticized “Don’t Say Gay” bill, which prohibits teachers in grades K-8 from teaching and discussing with their students the existence of homosexuality. The bill also requires school staff to inform the families of gay students about their children’s alleged sexuality.
Campfield has made numerous statements endorsing long-debunked myths about the “dangers” of homosexuality. In an interview with the entertainment news outlet TMZ, he reinforced his beliefs, explaining that the AIDS epidemic in Africa is heightened because “sodomy” was more common there among heterosexuals. Continuing his bizarre rant, Campfield went on to compare being gay to using heroin.
TMZ: “If they’re going to engage in homosexual acts anyway, why not teach them how to protect themselves from [HIV]?”
CAMPFIELD: “You know, you could say the same thing about kids who are shooting heroin. We need to show them the best ways to shoot up. No, we don’t. Why do we have to hyper-sexualize little children? Why can’t we just let little kids be little kids for a while?”
Studies have shown that states that only teach abstinence utterly fail in regards to sex education. Southern states like Mississippi, which has the highest teenage pregnancy rate in the country, are starting to take note of this.
There is also no evidence that discussing homosexuality with children will “sexualize” them, as Campfield suggests.
Watch the TMZ segment below.
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