Huckabee: ‘I Have Gay Friends,’ Just Like I Have Friends Who Drink, Curse, and Enjoy Ballet

BASH: “Yes, that is a good point. That is true. But let’s talk about gay marriage, because that is one of the topics in this book. And you write about your opposition to same-sex marriage as a religious conviction, but you also say this — and I’m going to quote – ‘I have friends who are gay. My wife and I have entertained gay friends, including gay couples, in our home. I do business with gay people and have had gay people working for me. My beliefs and convictions don’t change with the people I’m around. I accept people who disagree with me and genuinely appreciate that they accept me as a friend and associate.’ You write that you think that that is going to surprise people. Do you do that and put your tolerance out there because you believe that being gay is not a choice?”
HUCKABEE: “You know, for me, that’s not the big question. The bigger question is, how does it relate to law? How do we change law? We don’t change law because some people in a black robe just decide that they don’t like the fact that 70, in some cases 80 percent of a state’s population have affirmed natural law marriage.”
BASH: “Right.” 
HUCKABEE: “And I write a lot about the process and about the fact that Barack Obama had the same position I had when he spoke about it in 2008, and for the same reason.”
BASH: “But --”
HUCKABEE: “He said it was because he was a Christian and because God is in the mix. Those were his words.”
BASH: “But, Governor — Governor, I’m going to ask you about gay marriage in one second, but just staying on the topic of this topic, because you do write very eloquently about it being a religious conviction to oppose to — oppose gay marriage, but then you also talk about the biblical backings of being heterosexual. So, given that, how do you kind of square that religious conviction with being open to having gay friends?”
HUCKABEE: “Well, people can be my friends who have lifestyles that are not necessarily my lifestyle. I don’t chuck people out of my circle or out of my life because they have a different point of view. I don’t drink alcohol, but, gosh, a lot of my friends, maybe most of them, do. You know, I don’t use profanity, but, believe me; I have got a lot of friends who do. Some people really like classical music and ballet and opera. It’s not my cup of tea. I would like to think that there’s room in America for people who have different points of views without screaming, shouting, and wanting to shut their businesses down. What worries me in this new environment we’re in, it’s not just that someone might disagree. They don’t want to argue with me, even take a different point of view. They want to close someone’s business down, put them really in an economic position of disenfranchisement. I find that very, very disturbing.”
BASH: “Governor, you talked about gay marriage. So let’s talk about that and how much your own party has changed even since you ran in 2008. According to Pew, in 2008, 19 percent of Republicans supported gay marriage. Now it’s all the way up to 30 percent. That’s a pretty big jump in not a lot of years. So, you talk about the big tent in the Republican Party. Shouldn’t there be room for those who want same-sex marriage to be the law of the land?”
HUCKABEE: Sure, there’s room in the tent. I hope the party doesn’t change its overall view. But, you know, the very fact that I talk about the relationships I have with friends who are gay indicate that I’m not a person who shuts everybody out around me who disagrees. To be honest with you, Dana, I find a lot more interesting conversations that I can have with people who don’t agree with me. And I accept a lot of people as friends maybe whose lifestyle I don’t necessarily adhere to, agree with or practice. Doesn’t mean that — that I can’t have a good relationship with anyone or lead them or govern them. But, for me, as it was for President Obama in 2008, this is not just a political issue. It is a biblical issue. And, as a biblical issue, unless, you know, I get a new version of the Scriptures, it’s really not my place to say, OK, I’m just going to evolve. It’s like asking somebody who’s Jewish to start serving bacon-wrapped shrimp in their deli. We don’t want to do that. I mean, we’re not going to do that. Or asking a Muslim to serve up something that is offensive to him or to have dogs in his backyard. We’re so sensitive to make sure we don’t offend certain religions, but then we act like Christians can’t have the convictions that they have had for over 2,000 years.”