Is Stephen Hunt Another "Sideshow Bob" (Marshall)?

Is Republican State Senate nominee Stephen Hunt another gay-sex-obsessed (and not in a healthy way!) "Sideshow Bob" Marshall (R-13)? Based on this and this, it sure looks that way. First, check out this lunacy.

A Fairfax County School Board member has sent letters to the district's 24 high school principals urging them to ensure that students hear the views of people who believe that homosexuality is a choice and a "very destructive lifestyle."

In a Jan. 30 letter, Stephen M. Hunt (At Large) asked the principals to host speakers with an "ex-gay perspective" and offer students, teachers and counselors literature provided by the conservative group Concerned Women for America and other organizations.

"Children are being taught that homosexuality is normal and natural. It is neither," Hunt wrote. "To state that it is normal or natural is to promote the myth that accompanies the homosexual activist rhetoric."

Hunt's letter, which was not reviewed by other members of the 12-person board before it was sent, sparked sharp rebukes from some other board members and Superintendent Jack D. Dale.

Speaking of "sharp rebukes, here's a response from those supposedly "unnatural" gays (snark).

“Hunt should not be permitted to spread this kind of harmful misinformation,” said Paula Prettyman, President of Equality Fairfax. “Reparative therapy techniques — or “ex-gay” therapies — have been denounced by the American Psychiatric Association, the American Psychological Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics, and the American Medical Association.”

“Junk science has no place in our schools,” said David M. Smith, HRC’s vice president for policy and strategy. “No school board member should ignore the scientific evidence that sexual orientation cannot be changed just to push a personal agenda.”

[...]

More than 4 out of 5 lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) students report being verbally, sexually or physically harassed at school because of their sexual orientation and this harassment leads to decreased student performance, according to the Gay, Lesbian, Straight Education Network (GLSEN).

“This type of rhetoric only continues to fuel the already hostile atmosphere in our schools for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender students,” said Smith. “Hunt has done a grave disservice to the students he represents and should step down from his position on the school board."

In short, what we have with Stephen Hunt is an ignorant, raging homophobe. Now, I suppose that's his business if he wants to feel that way in the privacy of his own home - I'm libertarian like that :) - but when he runs for public office it's a completely different story. Unfortunately, then it becomes a threat to people, including the victims of gay bashing and harassment ("4 out of 5" LGBT students), who are put more at risk because of hateful rhetoric from so-called "leaders" in the community. That alone should disqualify Stephen Hunt from holding public office. We'll see if it does on January 12, 2010, or whether Fairfax County ends up with its own version of "Sideshow Bob" Marshall representing it in Richmond.

P.S. Hunt is like Marshall in another way, obsessed with "abstinence" to the point that he was even an "instructor for the Keep It Simple Say Know (KISSN) abstinence program in the Prince William and Fauquier County Public Schools." Apparently, Hunt's style of "instruction" doesn't work too well, though, as a study mandated by Congress found that "[s]tudents who participated in sexual abstinence programs were just as likely to have sex within a few years as those who did not." But why let the facts - on sexuality, pregnancy, whatever - get in the way of a far-right-wing extremist political agenda?