WSMV

Lawmaker draws criticism for comments on AIDS, gay bullying

A state lawmaker isn't backing down from his controversial comments that are now getting national attention.

State Sen. Stacey Campfield, R-Knoxville, talked about AIDS on a radio show, and now gay rights groups are outraged at what they believe is dangerous misinformation.

Campfield appeared on Michaelangelo Signilore's Sirius XM radio show to talk about his "Don't Say Gay" bill, but he ended up talking about other topics, including calling gay bullying the "biggest lark out there."

But it is his comments about AIDS that are raising some eyebrows.

During the 20 minute interview about his "Don't Say Gay" bill, he made some comments about the origin and transmission of AIDS.

"It was one guy (bleep)ing a monkey if I recall correctly and then having sex with other men," Campfield said on the show. "It is virtually impossible to contract AIDS outside of blood transfusions through heterosexual sex."

Gay rights groups found the comments not only irresponsible and false but also upsetting to those living with HIV.

"I was very disappointed because I know a couple of people who are HIV positive and I can't imagine being in their shoes hearing this kind of thing," said Chris Sanders, with the Tennessee Equality Project.

In an interview Friday with Channel 4, Campfield didn't back down from his comments, although he said he could have qualified his remarks better by saying he was talking about heterosexuals not engaging in high-risk behavior.

"I'll be the first to admit I'm not a gay-AIDS historian or anything like that," Campfield said. "The odds of a regular man catching it from a woman is very low."

We asked what he meant by "regular."

"Someone who is not from Africa, someone who isn't homosexual, someone who isn't an IV drug user, someone who is not sleeping with someone who is one of those things," he said.

This is just the latest in a series of controversial comments made by Tennessee state lawmakers in recent weeks.

State Rep. Richard Floyd, R-Chattanooga, drew fire for allegedly threatening to stomp transgendered people, and another state representative reportedly told an MTSU student that homosexuals were not mentally healthy.

As for the attention Campfield is drawing, he said he doesn't care.

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