“Fag” Joke Has Antigay Leader ROTFL

Iowa antigay activist Bob Vander Plaats has apparently found one role he thinks it's OK for gays to play in society -- punch line of derogatory jokes.

Video obtained by liberal blog ThinkProgress shows Vander Plaats, founder of the right-wing group Family Leader, dissolving in laughter at a joke told by an audience member at a Family Leader event earlier this year. In the video, shown below, the audience member refers to Iowa as "the state where you can't smoke a fag, but you can marry one." Vander Plaats laughs heartily, then tells the man, "That's pretty good."

Vander Plaats, a failed gubernatorial candidate, was behind the effort that led to last year's voter recall of three Iowa Supreme Court justices who ruled in favor of marriage equality. More recently, Family Leader has made the signing of a "marriage pledge" document a requirement for presidential aspirants if they hope to receive its endorsement. The document calls for "vigorous opposition to any redefinition of the Institution of Marriage," such as making it available to gay couples, and holds that homosexuality is a choice and a public health risk. An early version of the pledge claimed that African-American children were more likely to be born into a two-parent household under slavery than they are today.

Among the Republican presidential field, Congresswoman Michele Bachmann and former U.S. senator Rick Santorum have signed the pledge, but others have refused, finding it offensive and inappropriate.