Republican Senator Tom Cotton of Arkansas has a message for all the gays of America: Be thankful you’re not living in Iran, where they hang gay people.
In an appearance on CNN yesterday, Sen. Cotton said critics of Indiana’s controversial “religious freedom” law need to get a life, not to mention some “perspective,” implying that LGBT people in Indiana have it pretty darn good compared to countries where gay people are executed.
“I think it’s important we have a sense of perspective,” Cotton said. “In Iran they hang you for the crime of being gay.”
Don’t believe a lawmaker would say something so incredibly daft on national television in the year 2015? See for yourself in the video below.
How about we take this to the next level?
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Atrius
I will not thank Christians for treating the LGBT community better than Iran. No one deserves thanks for not being “as evil” as someone else. It’s like thanking the bully for not killing you. Screw these people.
Paul Tidd
That’s like saying being stabbed is better than getting shot.
Donald Martin
I.d.i.o.t.
Daniel Bennett
disgusting man
Xzamilio
Well, damn, Cotton… I guess we can’t walk and chew gum at the same time. He said it without the tiniest bit of a moral conscience… even when talking about the imprisoned Christian. Just a blank, expressionless affect. Hopefully, what the GOP done will light a fire under some of y’all lazy ass voters to actually get out there in 2016 and kick these nuts the hell out.
Londale Foster
First he said Be glad u havent been shot now this!!!
Eric Gorham
They execute traitors also, Cotton
Cam
We have bills introduced by these crazy right wingers trying to say gays should be killed, or that gays shouldn’t be allowed medical treatment etc…
The GOP claims to hate Iran and other countries like that, but their goal seems to be to become exactly like them.
DistingueTraces
Be grateful! I could be kicking you so much harder!
Ron King
Taxpayers paying for this ignorant soulless evangelical Christian Creeps worthless opinion….
AtticusBennett
Cotton’s infamously bigoted family no doubt, decades ago, would say “you uppity blacks should be happy with segregation and be relieved we’re not still keeping you as slaves”
Giancarlo85
And where are all the gay right wingers on here? They say the same thing. They often say “Why don’t you criticize Iran?”
Well in the end the right wing would instate a religious rule in this country and make it exactly like Uganda!
Desert Boy
Edna Cotton needs to shut the fuck up. She’s an idiot.
McShane
What? Is he… is he talking about Saeed Abedeni? That Calvary Chapel idiot? Saeed knew exactly what would happen to him if he went back to Iran. Which he did nine times, before he was arrested. The only reason he was even allowed back into Iran was specifically for non-sectarian humanitarian reasons, his orphanage. Well, he f*ucked himself by continuing to organize underground Christian churches. Well, that and converting.
Esteban1971
This is called “The Doctrine of Relative Filth,” and is often used to justify unethical behaviors by erroneously comparing them to worse behaviors.
http://whatwillmatter.com/2011/03/the_doctrine_of_relative_filth_5/
BrianOH
And this is why the Christian right in the US needs Islam. The obviously don’t want it to become too powerful, but they don’t want it destroyed either. They need Islam to be the more extreme version of what they’re doing here. They don’t want gay marriage, want gays to be discriminated against, and possibly imprisoned, but they need to be able to point to Islam and say “at least we’re not killing gays.” Same with women … they don’t want women’s equality, but need to be able to say, “at least women can drive, and go out in public without a burqa.” They have to be able to point to something else, and say that they’re not going THAT far. That’s why they need to be called out on this bullshit when they say it. Just because things could be worse, and are worse in other places doesn’t mean that it’s OK to discriminate here.
I wonder what his response to the following would be. “So you can’t use your Christian beliefs to discriminate against gay people. Get some perspective … you have it pretty good compared to the Christians that get killed in the Middle East.”
Chris L. Reynolds
Tom Cotton, you are an embarrassment, and you’ll rue the day that you placed yourself in the Political Arena of Buffoonery!
Daniel Richards
Millions of sperm cells and he’s the one that got through? Tsk tsk tsk
Luis H. Lopez
I feel sorry for the imbecile . I pity the morons who voted for this antigay bigot !
mcflyer54
Hey “Christians”, I guess you should be just as thankful you live in the good old USA rather than Iran where people go to jail for trying to force the word of Jesus Christ off on others. But certainly nobody would expect Cotton (the male Michele Bachmann) to understand anything about the law and the constitution – especially since he now calls the government of Iran among his pen-pals.
Ignacio Alvarez
But, scoundrels like him wish they could drive the U.S. in the same direction as Iran…
.I.
Craig Marker
What a jerk.
Rick Caffey
F.u.
Edgar Francisco Estrada
You’re lucky the gays won’t kill you for that comment.
EricNYCity
How offensive. That’s like telling blacks 25 years ago, “at least you’re not living in South Africa where they have apartheid”…. or “at least we’re not hanging you guys anymore!”
EricNYCity
How could he possibly be concerned about “religious freedom”?? I mean, it’s not like we’re throwing his kind to the lions anymore!
Joey Boyd
Well I’d like to go back to the time where some fed christians to lions
Chuck Allmaras
And he’s lucky he lives in a country where you aren’t killed for your religious lifestyle!
Bruce Dillon
EYE Cannot wait for Uncle Tom Cotton’s Gay Porn Video to surface!
(*;*()
enlightenone
Dumbo needs a dildo!
Milk
Relax senator, at least you do not live in Kenya.
Volvoguy
please republicans keep crazy rhetoric up for the next 2 years.
please don’t back of your stance against gay people , women, Hispanics and the other left people.’
the Hillary can just waltz right into the White House.
because all the crazy the republicans got running for the nomination is about further they are going to get
unreal frigging real in 2015
Giancarlo85
@Volvoguy: Oh they won’t. In fact they are doubling up on the crazy talk. They really hate Hispanics and women. And I’m just waiting for the next set of stupid comments about rape… those are required from the republican party. Republicans have been making stupid comments about rape for several decades now.
Republicans love pissing off a majority of this country… and when more people get out to vote they are going to get smoked.
Transiteer
One major difference between the U.S. and Iran, is that Iran IS a theocracy, and too many evangelicals/catholics/republicans are TRYING to make the U.S. a theocracy.
martinbakman
Why are the Repub’s and right wing X-tians suddenly pointing to Iran and Saudi Arabia and telling us if you lived there you’d be hung or stoned to death?
I still remember when dogma from Focus on the Family suggested how homosexuality ought to be recriminalized. These creeps long for those days.
Realitycheck
@martinbakman: That creep is probably gay and he should be outed.
American Christians should be glad they are not in Iraq as infidels or they would be killed.
Charles Jenkins
Jim Bob Duggar must be putting it to Cotton in the tail.
Loyd Hawkins
That this man thinks there is a comparison between a first world freedom loving country with a Constitution that guarantees us certain rights with a 3rd world theocratic failed state is evidence of how incredibly stupid this man is.
1EqualityUSA
“…for the crime of being gay.” Notice how he slips that in there? We are Americans. We have inalienable rights. We refuse to remain second class citizens. We all pay taxes. We are all citizens of the United States, not guests that don’t know when to leave. Racism didn’t go away just because the higher court ruled for equality in ‘Loving’ so, no doubt, after the judicial branches rule on the constitutionality of this atrocity, there will always be those who think that they are superior to us. History will see you all for what you are. This will all be a bad memory for us. We’ll be writing it down for others to read. Films will be made quoting some of the lovely gems that have spilled from your caustic lips. As for equality, if one couple is denied equality, it is one too many. The principle of inalienable rights doesn’t take numbers into account. The principle of equality stands even if nobody (chooses) to marry. The principle allows us to do the choosing, and not to have the decision made for us by others. The principle of equality extends to how we are to be treated in the business world. If you work in a business that provides a service or product to the community, the principle of equality will protect us from discrimination. The Constitution may be challenged, but it shall never be defeated. Christ said nary a word about gays in all of the 33 years He graced the Planet’s surface, but divorce was discussed, as was the need for us to refrain from judging each other. Who are you to judge another’s servant?
Andie Scott
“YET” is if gets his way!
Jay A. Scaramazzo
Did you ever graduate from third grade?
Michael T. Fletcher
People like this guy don’t deserve the freedom they have.
Kenny Jones
I’d like to give Tom :poop: Cotton to Iran!
Billy Budd
“We hate you, but at least we don’t kill you with stones”.
enlightenone
@Billy Budd: ““We hate you, but at least we don’t kill you with stones”
Because it takes a sociopath to even seriously think of such barbaric behavior!
Merv
Translation: “You’re lucky we don’t kill you.”
mallncox
Ok, being gay in Iran is a crime so they hang for it, very sad.
However, I don’t think it’s a crime in Indiana.
Guess this just goes to show that people in position in America, such as as Senator Cotton is just as stupid as the leaders in Iran.
Evji108
The next time the Christian right complains about being persecuted against by the gays, we can say “at least you aren’t getting your head cut off in Libya”. For ISIS, gays and Christians are all just infidels.
Jim Brams
A**wipe. Closet case.
Israel Ramon
Good thing you don’t live in Iran. They hate closet cases.
Paul C Reed
What a dumb ass
jwtraveler
The most horrifying part of this story is that the people of Arkansas actually elected this guy to the Senate. Think of all the countries in the world where people don’t have the privilege of being able to choose their own leaders, and here in the USA they throw their rights away by voting for imbeciles like this. Americans don’t deserve freedom and democracy.
ScottOnEarth
Ignorant, hateful, bigoted people can be so funny sometimes. And they can also be completely stupid assholes.
misterhollywood
What a complete and utter as swipe. What should we expect though from a dumbass.
David Brough
The would is full for loonies.
?? ?? ??????????? ?????? ???????? - We respect Gay & Lesbian people
Iran… ð??¢
Sluggo2007
He wants gays to be hung because he isn’t.
Robert Gosvener
He looks mentally challenged!
Mike Lundstrom
I wonder if he realizes, they sometimes do the same to thier politicians
RandomFurry
He isn’t wrong .. I guess? I mean, living here is certainly better than in Iran.
Barry Shatswell
Veiled threats will not translate into votes.
jwtraveler
How many of you, like me, commented without watching the video? As usual the Queerty headline completely distorts what is said on the video. I’m not defending Cotton; he gives a typically evasive politician’s answer, but the focus of his comment is the danger posed by Iran and its nuclear program. I’m more concerned with U.S. government policy.
Ceadrus
This Religious Freedom – being Discrimination is total Crap.
The shining ignorance and malice of these two, who assume the Gay People cannot also be followers of the Risen Jesus. We are unapologeticly Christian and desire to reflect Jesus’ teachings in the Sermon on The Mount. where Jesus clearly teaches that we are to LOVE our enemies. Which clearly means to respect them, care for them and have compassion on them.
IF the question is whether Jesus compels you to discriminate perhaps you should ask the many lepers, blind, crippled, The Crazed mentally illl man in the cemetery, Samaritan Women and the woman who had Vaginal Bleeding for years; who Jesus embraced and Healed. These were all people thought to be beyond the “Circle of Righteousness” and considered unclean. But the Jesus I worship extended Love, Acceptance and Affirmation for the Last, the least, the lowest, the lost and the socially dead. Jesus actively reached out to them, and brought them to his table of fellowship and reconciliation. Jesus commanded that his followers do the same.
Jesus never discriminated against anyone, OH except for the Self Righteous Oppresors. Who Huckabee and Jindal clearly show themselfve to be. They do not worship the Risen Jesus, they worship a white supremacist, angry old white fabrication of their own Bigotry and Ignorance.
Reginald Augustus Salazar Magpayo
I think it’s time to build an arena and get some lions (…and tigers, and bears…oh my!).
Reginald Augustus Salazar Magpayo
The IRONY that is lost on almost ALL TEA-GOP elected officials. (Elected by gerrymandering/redistricting/voter “prevention” laws*) is that they want this country, the U.S.A. to be a Theocracy like IRAN and yet hates and demonizes everything that country stands for (to the point of itching to start a war with it) yet at the same time, trying to replicate a “Christian version of Sharia Law” in the U.S.A..
Now tell me, how f_cked up crazy is THAT?! God help us!!!
Reginald Augustus Salazar Magpayo
Btw, …and “THIS” is why I am all for ABORTION!
Reginald Augustus Salazar Magpayo
And lastly…that’s “THE SOUTH” for you.
elgreek
You should be just as glad Senator that you’re not there either.
Stephen Ward
Clearly, he should be in Iran.
AxelDC
This seems almost like a veiled threat: “at least we aren’t publicly executing you!”
Realitycheck
@Robert Gosvener:
Looks? LOL he must be to say stupid things like that,
I might be wrong, but I think we are very close to a turning point
in american culture where that kind of stupidity and hate speech is no
longer acceptable, or there will be a price to be paid.
If GLTB people and their friends and supporter were half as organized
as the religious zealots we would have the same rights like everybody else
in the USA and we would rule american politics.
jwtraveler
@Reginald Augustus Salazar Magpayo: Yes, but it will be THEIR theocracy.
Realitycheck
@Reginald Augustus Salazar Magpayo:
Good news religion is on its way out, people are getting educated and slowly see
things differently, TV first and now the internet have open the door for alternative
views and better education.
If you look at where the religious nut cases live, is always the more poor and under
developed area of the USA, they can change and redraw districts all they want,
but it a loosing battle, and what happen in Indiana is the prove of that.
Sure it would be nice if things did change faster, but they are changing for the better.
Leonard Woodrow
What a stupid comment! If it is demonstrative of the intelligence of America senators, they are a sorry bunch.
Moritz
The man spends two months in the Senate and suddenly he is our Sect of State and now a professor of sociology. I appreciate that he is a veteran, and thank him for that, but so was Tim McVeigh (who he resembles).
The man should be thankful that he is not going to college in Kenya right now, as they shoot Christians on site. Or maybe in areas controlled by ISIS, where they behead them.
Yes, ignorance comes in many shapes and sizes, but two-month Tom proves to us that there must have been very low voter turnout on the day he was elected senator.
enlightenone
@Moritz: “…must have been very low voter turnout on the day he was elected senator.”
…As well as other manipulative, unethical, and immoral things. This is what results. Pathetic and disgraceful!
1EqualityUSA
Or voter suppression and gerrymandering has once again, assisted in stealing votes away from the “unpopular” Americans. Republicans cheat to stay in power. It’s the only way they do what they do.
enlightenone
@1EqualityUSA: “…Republicans cheat to stay in power. It’s the only way they do what they do…”
Well, I guess that’s what being a REAL, conservative Christian is for them!