Anti-Gay Holocaust Denier Avoids
Disciplineby 365Gay.com Newscenter Staff
(St Paul, Minnesota) A Minnesota state representative who claims gays were not persecuted under the Nazis has avoided a reprimand from his peers.
A House Ethics Committee motion to censure Rep. Arlon Lindner failed in a 2-2 vote that followed party lines.
Lindner had been accused of bringing discredit on the legislature by his allegations that no gays died in Nazi death camps, that gays actually helped Hitler's rise to power and that the gay community was attempting to rewrite history. He also accused gays of trying to turn "another Africa" because of AIDS.
`What I'm trying to prevent is the Holocaust of our children getting STDs, AIDS and various other diseases. ... If you want to sit around here and wait until America becomes another African continent, well then you do that, but I'm going to do something about it,'' he told the House. Linder made his comments during debate on a bill he had introduced that would repeal state human rights protections for people based on their sexual orientation.
Following the vote the outspoken Republican said he stands by his remarks and offered no apology. Asked if he regretted any of the statements, he said, ``not in the least.''
Democratic House leader Rep. Matt Entenza said the verdict means that any comments, regardless of their truth, will be allowed on the House floor.
``I think this highly partisan proceeding would give even a kangaroo court a bad name,'' he said.
State Rep. Greg Davids, one of the two Republicans who voted not to pursue the charges, said that although he believes Lindner's comments were inaccurate, he decided the case on freedom-of-speech grounds.
``I believe on the House floor he has the right to speak,'' Davids said.
©365Gay.com Ltd® 2003
The Associated Press
April 24, 2003
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) -- A state representative won't be getting any reprimands or giving any apologies for remarks he made in March about gays, the Holocaust and AIDS in Africa.
An attempt to discipline state Rep. Arlon Lindner failed Thursday in a 2-2 vote of the House Ethics Committee that followed party lines.
Lindner, who has proposed repealing state human rights protections for people based on their sexual orientation, had drawn criticism for questioning the extent to which Nazis persecuted homosexuals during the Holocaust.
He also made statements on the House floor that some called racist. He said, "What I'm trying to prevent is the Holocaust of our children getting STDs, AIDS and various other diseases. ... If you want to sit around here and wait until America becomes another African continent, well then you do that, but I'm going to do something about it."
Lindner, a Republican, said he stands by his remarks and offered no apology. Asked if he regretted any of the statements, he said, "not in the least."
At that, a member of the audience called Lindner a "redneck."
"You offended me, representative," shouted Bill English, of the Coalition of Black Churches and African American Leadership Summit. "Get some education and learn something before you offend a whole nation of people."
Lindner responded: "I've got black people that are on my side on this."
Democratic House leader Rep. Matt Entenza said the verdict means that any comments, regardless of their truth, will be allowed on the House floor.
"I think this highly partisan proceeding would give even a kangaroo court a bad name," he said.
State Rep. Greg Davids, one of the two Republicans who voted not to pursue the charges, said that although he believes Lindner's comments were inaccurate, he decided the case on freedom-of-speech grounds.
"I believe on the House floor he has the right to speak," Davids said.