Sure, the socially moderate Rudy Giuliani has tweaked his social positions to appeal to religious conservatives. He’s come out in support for parental notification laws on abortion and for the Hyde amendment, which bars federal funding of abortions. But God-o-Meter found this one hard to swallow: an enthusiastic supporter of gay rights, Giuliani suggested on last Sunday’s Meet the Press that he thinks homosexual acts are sinful.
Here’s the somewhat convoluted exchange between Russert and Giuliani, courtesy of The New York Times’ Caucus blog:

Giuliani was asked… if he agreed with the statement made in 1992 by a rival for the Republican presidential nomination, Mike Huckabee, about homosexuality being “an aberrant, unnatural, and sinful lifestyle.”
“No,” Mr. Giuliani replied. “I don’t believe it’s sinful.” But he then said something that puzzled and concerned some gay rights groups.
“My moral views on this come from the, you know, from the Catholic Church, and I believe that homosexuality, heterosexuality, as a way that somebody leads their life is not, isn’t sinful,” said Mr. Giuliani, who as New York mayor temporarily moved in with two gay roommates after he separated from his wife. “It’s the acts — it’s the various acts that people perform that are sinful, not the orientation that they have.”
Mr. Giuliani added: “I’ve had my own sins that I’ve had to confess.”

The Times sought a clarification, but the Giuliani campaign declined. God-o-Meter can’t help but wonder whether Giuliani misspoke or whether he really feels this way. And, if he does, whether he’s told the gay couple the then-New York Mayor lived with when his divorce proceedings forced him from Gracie Mansion.

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