Mike Huckabee is defending himself after being criticized for using the phrase "ick factor" with regard to his opposition to same-sex marriage.
Said Huckabee in a New Yorker profile: “I do believe that God created male and female and intended for marriage to be the relationship of the two opposite sexes. Male and female are biologically compatible to have a relationship. We can get into the ick factor, but the fact is two men in a relationship, two women in a relationship, biologically, that doesn’t work the same.”
Now, Huckabee is defending his use of the phrase by saying he didn't make it up.
Said Huckabee in a statement to Politico:
“The reaction over a reported quote from my most recent interview with the New Yorker has gained a lot of attention on the blogs and Internet. Let me set the record straight. Never once did I say ‘icky’, as many blogs and less than credible news organizations have reported…my use of the phrase ‘ick factor’ was as the established notion from within the Gay, Lesbian, Bi-sexual, Transgender (GLBT) community. It was not an indication of personal aversion, but rather a reference to an established phrase used mostly from same-sex marriage advocates and militants – not one I created. Former colleague of then Professor Obama from the University of Chicago’s Law School, Dr. Martha Nussbaum, has often made reference to the ‘ick factor’ in her professional writings and is credited with applying the phrase to the GLBT community. This phrase is not new. This phrase is not mine. More over, the phrase ‘ick factor’ was used as early as the late 1990’s and was just the subject of an entire article written on April 12 of this year – by Joseph Erbentraut – and he even put ‘Ick Factor’ in the title.”
He's telling the truth. But is referencing the term while expressing your aversion to what it refers to any different, or morally superior, than creating it in the first place?
