Newt Gingrich: Gays Should Accept Anti-Gay Views

Newt Gingrich seems to think that gays and lesbians who want equal rights are bigots for not tolerating the religious right's continued actions to discriminate against them.

Former Speaker of the House of Representatives, failed 2012 GOP presidential hopeful and current "Crossfire" host, Newt Gingrich, opined Monday on his CNN program that gay people should accept and be "open and understanding" of anti-gay views (via Media Matters).

Preaching the old line of tolerating intolerance and bigotry Gingrich said the LGBT community should be more "open and understanding" to those who don't want to see same-sex couples marry and exist.

"You guys talk about how you want to be inclusive, except of course if somebody tweets this, then [there are] death threat or let's send them off to sensitivity training," the former congressman said on the CNN show. "I mean it strikes me as repression, that's not inclusive...shouldn't you also be teaching people who are gay to be open and understanding [of anti-gay views]?"

Gingrich's comments came during a discussion about the negative comments openly gay football player Michael Sam was hit with after he was drafted into the National Football League Saturday night.

Miami Dolphins' Don Jones was fined by the team after he tweeted "OMG" and "horrible" soon after Sam was drafted. A former basketball player said he was boycotting ESPN's "SportsCenter" because of the network's coverage of Sam's kiss and Donald Trump called the quick peck "out there."

The failed logic behind Gingrich's call for LGBT American's to accept a seat in the proverbial back of the bus in the name of tolerating the intolerance of anti-gay bigotry, is the latest example of a tactic that is becoming increasingly popular among conservative Christian groups and far right-wing members of the GOP.

In February, during an interview with CNN's Wolf Blitzer, Tea Party darling and fellow 2012 Republican presidential hopeful Minnesota Rep. Michelle Bachmann lamented Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer's imminent veto of SB 1062, a law that would allow businesses to refuse service to to any person on the basis of the owners' religious beliefs.

"It looks like she may veto it, but I think that will prove to serve us not very well in terms of tolerance in the United States." Bachmann said. "This isn't one side or another. What we're talking is tolerance on both sides and it is not tolerant to force people to violate their religious beliefs,."

H/T Towleroad

Watch Gingrich's make his comments below: