Metro Weekly

Meet Stacey Campfield: Gay & AIDS misinformation flows freely from Tennessee senator

Gay radio talker Michelangelo Signorile interviewed Tennessee state Senator Stacey Campfield about his pending, “Don’t Say Gay” bill. That measure would essentially prevent any discussion by teachers about gay lives or references to homosexuality. What Signorile got in response was pretty stunning.

The Tennesse senator let loose a plethora of ignorant comments about the “nature” of homosexuality, bestiality, and the combination of the two leading to AIDS:

“… most people realize that AIDS came from the homosexual community…. It was one guy screwing a monkey, if I recall correctly, and then having sex with men.”

Listen to the conversation at Signorile.com.

When confronted by Knoxville TV station WBIR about his numerous faulty statements, Campfield did not back down, nor did he apologize. He basically blamed Signorile for asking him about the topic when, “I’m not a gay AIDS historian.”

Have a look and decide. Is he mixing science and hearsay? Cherry picking negative facts to suit his anti-gay agenda? Or is there legitimate merit in his gay-focused political agenda?

You should also listen to RadioLab’s excellent program about “Patient Zero: The Origin of AIDS,” which aired two months ago:

Campfield was refused service by a Knoxville restaurant this week for his anti-gay comments. He later told WBIR that, “I said, well, all that stuff is backed up by the CDC.”:

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