Rod Joseph, one of four Republicans running in Florida’s Democratic-leaning 20th Congressional District, recently told the Sun Sentinel‘s editorial board that he believes everyone is “born straight” and that sexual orientation is a “preference,” not an inherent trait.
“You cannot be born gay. That’s impossible biologically,” Joseph said during the interview. “Sexual preference from the Roman Empire to date, it’s always a preference.”
An evangelical Christian, Joseph also claimed that people are indoctrinated or influenced into becoming gay or LGBTQ, asserting that most LGBTQ people were sexually abused as children.
Seeking to justify his belief that sexual orientation is a choice, Joseph argued that people should “look at the natural habitat. You never see a lion that mate(s) with a male lion for life. You never see a giraffe, a male giraffe, that mate(s) with a giraffe…Myself right now saying I am a giraffe, that doesn’t mean it’s true.”
The candidate later cited his opposition to the LGBTQ movement, along with other conservative beliefs, as the reason he switched from Democrat to Republican.
Joseph’s comments are notable because the 20th Congressional District includes some of South Florida’s most LGBTQ-friendly communities and areas with high concentrations of same-sex couple households, including Wilton Manors, Fort Lauderdale’s Victoria Park neighborhood, Oakland Park, Pompano Beach, Tamarac, and Plantation.
Two of Joseph’s three Republican primary opponents, Brend Andersen and Lateresa “LA” Jones, said they disagreed with his views on sexual orientation.
“I am Black, American-born and raised in this country, and I do find that I can’t make a statement like that because I don’t know how God made people,” Jones said.
“I do know as I look over history, especially our history, there were so many people that had to … not become who they actually are [because of societal pressure],” she added. “I pray that we become a nation where we embrace people for who God created them to be.”
Elijah Manley, an openly gay Democrat running for the seat, dismissed Joseph’s assertions as “unfounded and baseless.”
“I think his response is incredibly ignorant. You’re born the way you are,” Manley told the Sun Sentinel, noting that science has not identified a definitive cause for same-sex attraction. “Using science to push a bigoted, transphobic, homophobic agenda is shameful.”
Manley also argued that public attitudes toward gay people and LGBTQ rights have shifted significantly in recent years. “People are much more positive on this issue now,” he said.
Stratton Pollitzer, CEO and executive director of the LGBTQ rights organization Equality Florida, criticized Joseph’s comments about sexual orientation.
“When they have no real solutions to offer on the issues that matter most to Floridians — affordability, housing, rising insurance costs, strengthening our economy — right-wing politicians resort to their tired smokescreen of division, outrage, and distraction,” Pollitzer said. “But voters are seeing through it and refusing to be duped.”
Florida’s primary elections are on August 18. Because the 20th Congressional District is heavily gerrymandered to pack Democratic voters into a single district, the Democratic nominee is overwhelmingly favored to win the seat in November. The Cook Political Report rates the district at D+20 on its Partisan Voting Index, meaning it favors Democrats by 20 percentage points over the national average.
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