Party switch thrusts Adams into national media spotlight
By Kathleen Baydala Staff Writer
Chattanooga Times Free Press

Hamilton County Commissioner Curtis Adams said Wednesday that homosexuals should not be allowed to teach in schools.

"I wish they weren't there," Mr. Adams said. "But I know there's nothing that can be done about it."

Mr. Adams, who recently switched from the Democratic Party to the Republican Party, discussed his stance on homosexuality and gay marriage in Wednesday interviews with media outlets about his party switch. His split from the Democratic Party generated regional and national media attention.

Matt Nevels, president of the Chattanooga chapter of Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays, said there is no inherent difference in the way heterosexual and homosexual teachers do their jobs.

"One of the myths of homosexuality, particularly about gay men, is that they are child sexual abusers," said Mr. Nevels, who is a Christian educator at Pilgrim Congregational Church. "The vast majority of child abusers are heterosexuals, not homosexuals."

Mr. Adams appeared Wednesday night on the Fox News Network's nationally televised "Hannity & Colmes" talk show. The show's Internet site billed Mr. Adams as a Democrat who "left his party because of" former Vermont governor and presidential candidate Howard Dean, recently named chairman of the Democratic National Committee.

Although he did say in the four-minute TV interview that he thought Mr. Dean would "always be a problem" for Democrats, Mr. Adams mostly spoke about the recent success of Republicans.

"The reason I switched is because the Republicans in our county have been moving our county forward," he said.

He also told the show’s hosts that he voted for President George W. Bush in the November election and that "all American people have to respect President Bush."

Mr. Adams' radio appearances this week included interviews on 102.3 WGOW in Chattanooga and on a nationally syndicated morning talk show on 99.7 WTN in Nashville.

Mr. Adams told the Chattanooga Times Free Press he left the Democratic Party because he is dissatisfied with some of the party's beliefs and its affiliation with the American Civil Liberties Union.

"I just don't belong in the same-sex marriage crowd (and) the ACLU crowd," he said. "That is the Democratic Party."

Bob Davis, chairman of the Hamilton County Democratic Party, said Mr. Adams was trying to put inaccurate labels on the Democratic Party, and he said the commissioner appeared to be on "an ego trip."

"There is nothing wrong with the ACLU," he said. "It's nothing but an organization trying to protect Americans' rights. If Curtis Adams is against protecting people's rights, then he must be un-American.

"Same-sex marriage is not a Democratic issue," Mr. Davis said. "It's a Christian issue. Everyone has a right to talk about religion, but that's not politics. That's faith."