Roll Call: Rep. Chris Smith Brought Up Orphanages After Same-Sex Parenting Question

Congressman Chris Smith, Middletown's other representative in Congress,  truly is an abhorrent individual. I'm very fortunate that he isn't my congressman. - MM

From Roll Call:
9/12/18

High school senior asked if her gay sister would be less of a legitimate parent

Rep. Chris Smith’s controversial views on gay marriage were thrust into the spotlight again Wednesday after the New Jersey Republican brought up orphanages when asked about same-sex parenting, according to an audio recording of the exchange.

The recording, reportedly taken on May 29 at Colts Neck High School in Central New Jersey, was obtained by the Washington Blade, an LGBT news source based in Washington, D.C.

Hannah Valdes, a senior, asked Smith whether her gay sister, in his opinion, would be “less of a legitimate parent” than someone in a heterosexual partnership.

Smith has previously voted to prohibit gay parents from adopting children in Washington, D.C.

Another student asked Smith what made “others” better candidates for adoption than gay couples.

That’s when Smith suggested alternatives existed to gay couples adopting children, including orphanages.

“Somebody mentioned orphanages before,” Smith said in the recording. “I mean, orphanages are still a possibility for some kids.”

Smith’s office could not immediately be reached for comment.

Smith has raised eyebrows for previous comments on same-sex couples.

At a hearing in the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Africa in 2015, Smith said he was a “strong believer in traditional marriage” and that he does not “construe homosexual rights as human rights.”

“Others have a different view and I certainly respect them,” Smith said.

That comment drew a rebuke from fellow New Jersey Rep. Frank Pallone, a Democrat.

“Congressman Smith is welcome to have his own opinions, but when he makes such an inflammatory statement in an effort to push the administration into ignoring the rights of LGBT people as a matter of policy, it crosses the line,” Pallone said, in a statement at the time. “Representatives in Congress must be promoting the expansion of human rights, not fighting to limit its definition to people that they deem to be appropriate.”

Smith said Pauline was “twisting his words” and had taken them out of context.