At a candidate forum in Dilworth on Wednesday, GOP candidate for House District 4B, Paul Sandman, compared marriage equality to “people that want to marry their kids.”

An article from In Forum captured the moment:

Social issues, such as the upcoming Marriage Amendment, were also discussed. [DFL candidate Paul] Marquart said he disagreed with the amendment, which would constitutionally define marriage in Minnesota as between one man and one woman.

“This is a huge government intrusion to our lives,” he said. “It limits individual liberties and freedoms.”

Sandman, who labeled himself “pro-life and pro-family,” said if the amendment is not passed, worse things will happen in the near future.

“There’s going to be people that want to marry their kids,” he said. “It’s going to also go to pedophiles.”

The Mike McFeely Show on KFGO spoke with Sandman.

MM: Explain the quote. Explain what you mean when you say there’s going to be people that want to marry their kids. Its going to go to pedophiles also.

PS: The question that it pertains to was the marriage amendment and I’m for marriage between one man and one woman. So I think what you what you are doing is taking my responses out of context a little bit and saying that I’m for marrying pedophiles or parents marrying their kids. I’ve seen reports that that’s gong to happen..

MM: No, no. I’m not saying that at all. I’m saying what you said. What you said was you are afraid that is what it’s going to lead to that in the future if the amendment does not pass. Do you truly believe that? That if this amendment does not get 50 percent in Minnesota its going to lead to…

PS: I said it could lead to that. I mean if you look at it 30 years ago we weren’t talking about gays and lesbians and the homosexual acts and everything else coming into the forefront where it is today and I said in 20-30 years from now we could have a problem with pedophiles wanting to marry — people my age at 45 wanting to marry kids that are not 18 yet. That could happen. I said about 8 months ago there was a gal in the news that wanted to marry herself because she was in love with herself. It’s not going to end at this marriage amendment is it gets voted down. We’ll have other things coming up.

MM: There are places like Iowa, New York other states, that do allow gay marriage. Is there any evidence of those states going down the road of allowing pedophiles to marry children or parents to marry their own children incestually?

PS: It’s pretty early yet. This has just been coming to the forefront in the last, I don’t know, 3-5 years. So I don’t see that happening yet but as things progress I see it happening down the road, maybe 15, 20 30 years from now.

MM: It’s truly something that you think could happen, is that you think its a moral decision that if homosexual people have same rights as heterosexual people through legal marriage that it’s a moral situation where it is going to be all of these things with incest and pedophilia going through this country?

PS: Yes, it’s not going to end at this marriage amendment. Its going to keep growing and growing and getting worse and worse. and we will have a very immoral society.

MM: 50, 60, 70 years ago people thought that interracial marriage would lead to the same things, that if black people and white people where allowed to marry it would be the end of this country. Has that happened yet? When black and white people were legally allowed to marry?

PS: Well, no but then I think we’ve moved forward were not so much of a racist United States anymore. I mean its pretty much a melting pot of many different races coming in and being tolerant of other skin colors. I don’t have a problem with people and different races. I’m not a racist person.

MM: So if that happened with with black and white interracial marriage, could that happen with homosexual couples and we become a more tolerant society?

PS: From a biblical standpoint I don’t see that happening. God does not look at skin color and in my eyes I don’t look at skin color but I look at peoples stance on allowing gays and lesbians — and what they do behind closed doors I don’t care about but I don’t want to make laws allowing everything else to happen. What i look at eventually it will be my civil wrights that will be violated. They are going to want to come to my church and get married. We are going to love gays if they come to our church but we are not going to endorse them and marry them and treat them like a married couple between a man and a woman.

Link to the audio file: Paul_Sandman_09272012