“Canadian conservative party may block leadership candidate for calling homosexuality ‘a choice’”

Some senior Tories are asking the Conservative Party to block social conservative Richard Décarie’s leadership candidacy because of his allegedly bigoted views.

In fact, in the wake of the backlash against the Quebecer and former Stephen Harper staffer, the National Post is predicting that “there is a very real chance the party will disqualify him from the race.”

Décarie, who has yet to officially register for the contest, has been under fire since telling CTV’s Evan Solomon over a week ago that “being ‘gay’ is a choice.”

He reiterated on CBC that “marriage should be exclusive between a man and a woman, like it was traditionally. The base of a family that is the base of a society.”

Calgary M.P. Michelle Rempel Garner and party strategist Kory Teneycke are among top-level Tories who say Décarie’s views are beyond the pale...

Décarie, whose campaign chair is former M.P. Brad Trost, says people express privately to him the views he states publicly, and they deserve a voice in the Conservative Party...

Jeff Gunnarson, national president of Campaign Life Coalition, Canada’s national pro-life, pro-family political lobbying group, argues that Décarie is not a fringe candidate.

The view that homosexual persons are “born that way” has been “totally debunked by science,” he told LifeSiteNews.

“We know from clinical psychological science and the lived experience of ex-gays themselves, that same-sex attraction is caused by environmental factors and childhood trauma in most cases. There is a ton of peer-reviewed and clinical research to bear that out,” added Gunnarson.

“And I’m glad that the leadership race is focusing some attention on this.”