Larry Kilgore has made God, gays and guns an important part of his campaign for governor, but his No. 1 issue is secession. Kilgore is so committed to the idea of having Texas leave the union that he legally changed his name – Larry SECEDE Kilgore. That’s the way he’ll appear on the ballot next March in the Texas Republican primary, where he is challenging front runner Greg Abbott for the GOP nomination.
Kilgore believes the Bible offers a good guide for government. As such, he suggests that in accordance with the biblical injunction against homosexuality, gay people should be put to death. But Kilgore says he’s willing to temporarily set aside his opposition to homosexuals in the interest of winning. The Arlington telecommunications contractor says to build a coalition, he’s inviting gay people to support his campaign.
In an interview with Lone Star Q, a statewide on-line LGBT news site, Kilgore talked about his version of the big tent.
“I am a Christian, and I have lots of Christian beliefs. However, I am trying to build a coalition of all different types of people. I look at the lesbians and the homosexual folks and I say, ‘Hey, D.C. is stealing my money just like they’re stealing your money.’ After we get our freedom, then we can decide all that stuff — hopefully at a county level. Right now, lesbians and homosexuals and Christians may have differences with each other, but we’ve got a bigger enemy.”
To that end, Kilgore said he’s removed an anti-transvestite plank from his campaign web site. Asked what the punishment for homosexuality should be, Kilgore said, “According to the Bible, it should be execution, if anyone participates in that activity.” But he said the same for adulterers and women who have abortions.
“In my gubernatorial run, it’s secession only, and I want to build a bridge with all different kinds of folks,” Kilgore said. “If there was a homosexual running that was a secessionist, I would support him.” Under Kilgore’s idea of secession, Texas would be divided into several states. One state could be for gay people. In another, they could be executed. In 2006, Kilgore finished second behind Gov. Rick Perry for the GOP nomination for governor. He ran for the Senate in 2008, challenging incumbent John Cornyn, and in the primary and got nearly 20 percent of the Texas Republican vote.
