Republican Christian Rock Star With Ties to Rep. Michele Bachmann Calls Gay People Criminals

Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minnesota) and current GOP candidate for Minnesota governor, Tom Emmer, are good friends with a Christian rock singer in the state, Bradlee Dean. He's in a band called You Can Run But You Cannot Hide, which in addition to performing music also doubles as a Christian ministry.

For his part, however, Dean has been a source of controversy in recent months. Earlier this summer, Dean said that Muslim countries that slaughter gay people are more moral than countries like the United States, which tolerate homosexuality. Then he said that gay people are all pedophiles, and that on average, an LGBT person molests 117 children before society finds out about them.

Now, Dean is upping his rhetoric against LGBT people, especially as activists and students plead with schools to focus on anti-gay bullying. Dean hates this idea, and ranted on his weekly radio show last week that gay people are all criminals.

"I am tired of this. I’m tired of these people. I’m tired of trying to be civil with criminals,” Dean said, as reported by the excellent Andy Birkey at the Minnesota Independent. "The homosexuals are now blaming — they are playing the victims — the homosexuals are now blaming their stance as the reason that young homosexuals are committing suicide because of the schools’ intolerance to the lifestyle of homosexuality.”

Kind of infuriating, to say the least, given that in Minnesota's largest school district (which happens to be represented in Congress by none other than Rep. Michele Bachmann), upwards of a half dozen students have committed suicide this past year, including at least three who were LGBT. Oh, but Dean has an answer for that. And if you think his comments are ridiculous so far, just wait.

"The reason the homosexual kids … by the way they aren’t actually gay. They are just trying a new lifestyle because they got these perverts in front of them trying to teach them something,” said Dean. “Little boys aren’t hooked up to be with little boys, and little girls aren’t hooked up to be with little girls. God didn’t create us that way, and nature definitely doesn’t teach us that. Dogs don’t do that.”

It's not quite clear where Dean is getting his facts about dogs. Heck, I have an eight-year-old female Jack Russell/Pug mix, and she's humped quite a few other female dogs in her day, and she rather enjoys doing it, until her embarrassed fathers pull her away. But I digress.

Perhaps there's no other way to say this, other than being this blunt: the type of rhetoric that Dean spouts on his radio show is exactly the reason so many young LGBT people feel devalued and worthless enough to contemplate suicide. Dean says "It’s not hate, it’s love." Well, Mr. Dean, love never sounded so disordered coming out of your mouth.

Dean finishes his radio commentary up by suggesting that gay people follow the God of darkness, Satan himself.

"These people don’t operate in the day of light they operate in the darkness where their father operates,” Dean said.

And just to prove that Dean actually said all of this (because, frankly, this stuff seems almost too ridiculous to believe), the Minnesota Independent has the audio. Might want to grab one of those stress dolls before listening though.

It's now worth drawing some connections in Minnesota politics. Dean and Rep. Michele Bachmann are BFFs, with Bachmann welcoming Dean at campaign events. Dean and Emmer are so friendly, that Emmer wrote Dean's ministry a fat $250 check last year. Emmer, meanwhile, is being backed for governor by Target, 3M, and Best Buy, three companies that supposedly have great policies when it comes to their gay employees, but would rather see someone like Emmer, who has deep ties with a musician who believes gay people are criminals ruled by Satan, elected Governor.

Man, Minnesota wins the medal for most interesting political season. Minnesota, Sharron Angle and Christine O'Donnell have nothing on you.

Photo credit: Wikimedia Commons