It was the latest sign of the storm over Mr. Santorum's comments. The group spoke out a day after Bill Frist of Tennessee, the Senate majority leader, rose to Mr. Santorum's defense.
"Rick is a consistent voice for inclusion and compassion in the Republican Party and in the Senate," Dr. Frist said in a statement issued late Tuesday night, "and to suggest otherwise is just politics."
Mr. Santorum, a Pennsylvanian who holds the No. 3 spot in the Republican leadership, has been buffeted by criticism of his comments about a Supreme Court challenge to a Texas law banning sodomy.
"If the Supreme Court says that you have the right to consensual sex within your home, then you have the right to bigamy, you have the right to incest, you have the right to adultery," he said, in an interview published on Monday by The Associated Press.
Democrats condemned the remarks, and gay rights groups called for Mr. Santorum to resign his leadership post. Mr. Santorum has said that he does not need to apologize and that he was engaged in a "legitimate public policy discussion."
Today the Republican group, the Republican Unity Coalition, joined the critics. But the coalition, which describes itself as a "gay-straight organization dedicated to making homosexuality a non-issue" did not call for Mr. Santorum to relinquish his leadership position.
"These are false and harmful comparisons," the coalition said in a statement, adding, "Senator Santorum owes an apology to gay men and women who support, build and have loving families all across America."
(Washington, D.C.) Small cracks have begun to appear in the tacit support Republicans have shown by their silence about Sen Rick Santorum's anti-gay statements this week.
Four days after an interview the Pennsylvania Republican gave to the Associated Press in which he equated homosexuality with incest, polygamy and incest, two GOP senators have spoken out.
In the AP interview, Santorum called gay sex "deviant" behavior that threatens to "undermine the basic tenets of our society and the family."
Following publication of the story Republicans refused to comment, and Santorum maintained he would not issue an apology. One of Santorum's few public supporters was Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn). Wednesday he said Santorum is not a homophobe but would not comment on the interview.
Thursday marked the first open rebuke of Santorum. Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) called the remarks "unfortunate" and said they "undermine Republican principles of inclusion and opportunity."
Sen. Lincoln Chafee (R-Rhode Island) released a similar statement Thursday.
"I thought his choice of comparisons was unfortunate and the premise that the right of privacy does not exist -- just plain wrong," he said. "Senator Santorum's views are not held by this Republican and many others in our party."
Santorum is chairman of the Republican Conference, the GOP's No. 3 Senate post.
Snowe and Chafee are both moderates within their party but their comments are nonetheless noteworthy. With the story now being covered on a daily basis by mainstream media, including the Washington Post and CNN, Republican pollsters are trying to determine which way the national wind is blowing.
The GOP analysts are concentrating their questions on America's large swing vote. The undecided voters are said to be key to Republicans staying in the majority of both houses in Congress. If the numbers show a large number of people "uncomfortable with Santorum's remarks you will see more strident criticism by more in the party," said one GOP source.
The party operative pointed to the silence that at first greeted Sen. Trent Lott's racist remarks last year. "As soon as the party realized mainstream America was outraged the leadership moved to remove him from a position of power."
Lott resigned as Republican leader in the Senate last December after he praised the 1948 presidential candidacy of Strom Thurmond, whose campaign advocated racial segregation.
Meanwhile, a Mormon sect that practices polygamy has demanded an apology from Santorum for linking homosexuality with the practice of having more than one spouse.
Owen Allred, who heads one of Utah's largest polygamist sects, says the practice of one man marrying several women is a moral and religious tradition dating back to Abraham.
Allred says that when Santorum compared the practice to homosexuality and incest, he defiled polygamy as "immoral and dirty."
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Santorum likened his comments comparing homosexuality to bigamy, polygamy, incest and adultery to a 1986 Supreme Court decision that said consenting adults have no constitutional right to private homosexual sex.
"To suggest that my comments, which are the law of the land and were the reason the Supreme Court decided the case in 1986, are somehow intolerant, I would just argue that it is not," Santorum told a town hall meeting in his home state of Pennsylvania.
In an interview with The Associated Press published Monday, Santorum, the Senate's No. 3 Republican, said he hoped the Supreme Court upholds a Texas sodomy law under review.
On Tuesday, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee and gay-rights groups called for Santorum to step down as the Republican Party's conference chairman.
Yesterday, prominent Democrats continued to press for his ouster.
Even fellow Republican Sen. Olympia Snowe of Maine, a moderate, condemned Santorum's "unfortunate remarks," saying they "undermine Republican principles of inclusion and opportunity."
The House Democratic leader, Rep. Nancy Pelosi of California, said Santorum's "refusal to apologize demonstrates that he does not understand how wrong his comments are."
Democratic presidential candidate Howard Dean said it was "morally wrong" for Santorum to retain his leadership post.
"Gay-bashing is not a legitimate public policy discussion; it is immoral," said Dean, who as governor of Vermont signed legislation allowing gay couples to enter into civil unions.
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