I do not think that is the right signal to send to the next generation. I learned that several of the individuals in the administration were homosexuals and had done outstanding work. Unfortunately, several of those individuals with whom I worked and whom I respected met a very early death, in part as a result of the practice, I believe of their lifestyle, and it is a tragedy. Gays can change their sexual orientation. I do know that there are thousands of former homosexuals, individuals who once were engaged in a homosexual lifestyle, who have changed that lifestyle and have repudiated it and find themselves to be engaged in heterosexual lifestyles.
Gays make bad role models .
I am worried about youngsters in our society. I think there are times when young men are unsure about themselves when they are in transition, when they have identified perhaps more with their mothers than with their fathers, and they move from boyhood to manhood. Those are critical times when role models are very important. His conduct and the way in which he would represent the United States is probably not up to the standard that I would expect. Senate conservatives blocked Hormel's nomination for more than a year because he is Gay.