By: Andy Birkey, UpTake Fellow 

At the Minnesota Second Congressional District debate on Thursday evening, candidate Jason Lewis called gender-inclusive school policies “an abomination.”

Lewis was asked by the moderator, “What would you change, if anything, in the educational system?”

Lewis lamented the perceived power of the government in public education and said, “But what happens when you allow this consolidation of power in St. Paul or Washington… even worse is you start to get these experimental schemes with our children. Now the latest is allowing transgendered students to use the restroom or locker facility of their choice. That is an abomination that no school district should adopt.”

The longtime Twin Cities conservative radio host has staked positions in opposition to LGBTQ equity before. A longtime friend of Michele Bachmann, he once ranted about “angry lesbians” going after her and gave the introduction at the launch of her failed campaign for President of the United States.

In his book, he made controversial statements about same-sex marriage and slavery, and in columns claimed that gays and lesbians could legally marry, so long as they married in heterosexual way.

He also apparently told radio listeners in 2013 that he opposes adoption by LGBTQ people, but those radio archives were pulled from the internet prior to his candidacy.

Lewis is vying for the GOP nomination along with Sen. John Howe, Tea Party activist David Gerson, industrialist Darlene Miller, and farmer and perennial candidate Gene Rechtzigel. The winner will face DFLer Angie Craig, a former executive at St. Jude Medical and member of the LGBTQ community.

Video and transcript

At top: video of Jason Lewis speaking at Minnsota Republican CD2 debate on March 31 2016.

Transcript:
Moderator: Jason, what will you change, if anything, in the educational system?

Jason Lewis: Well, let’s be honest here. The government top-to-bottom educational system, whether it’s you know St. Paul or the 100 billion we spend on the Department of Education, is a wholly owned subsdiary of the government unions. Let’s be blunt about this. It works for them, (applause) it doesn’t work for parents and students. We need collective bargaining reform and if the Department of Education isn’t willing to push that, then the Department of Education oughta be abolished.

Reagan ran on tuition tax credits. If you homeschool, or if you send your child to a Catholic school or a parochial school, well you can deduct that on your tax return. We might want to look at that. But what happens when you allow this consolidation of power in St. Paul or Washington, even worse, is you start to get these experimental schemes with our children. Now the latest is allowing transgendered students to use the rest room or locker facility of their choice. That is an abomination that no school district should adopt. (applause)

Cross posted from The Column, a community-supported non-profit news, arts, and media organization. The Column depends on community support to continue the work of solid LGBT-centric journalism. If you like this article, consider visiting Give MN to make a contribution to The Column today.

Click here to watch the full CD2 MN GOP debate.