--- description: Texas Gov. Rick Perry prompted an awkward moment at a talk in San Francisco on Wednesday when he compared homosexuality to alcoholism. title: Texas Governor Rick Perry Compares Homosexuality to Alcoholism image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- * [Politics](/section/politics/) ## Politics Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [republicans](/tag/republicans/) ## republicans Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # 'Murmur of Disbelief' As Rick Perry Compared Homosexuality to Alcoholism  by [Noah Rayman](/author/noah-rayman/)  ## Noah Rayman Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jun 12, 2014 12:51 PM CUT  by [Noah Rayman](/author/noah-rayman/)  ## Noah Rayman Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jun 12, 2014 12:51 PM CUT Texas Gov. Rick Perry prompted an awkward moment at a talk in San Francisco on Wednesday when he [compared homosexuality to alcoholism](http://www.sfgate.com/politics/article/In-S-F-Rick-Perry-compares-homosexuality-to-5546544.php "undefined"). The San Francisco _Chronicle_ reports there was a “murmur of disbelief” among the audience members after Perry responded to a question about whether he believes homosexuality is a disorder: --- > “” --- The question came days after the Republican Party of Texas approved language supporting access to “reparative therapy” for gays and lesbians. At the talk on Wednesday, Perry said he did not know if such therapy works, the _Chronicle_ reports. \[[_SF Chronicle_](http://www.sfgate.com/politics/article/In-S-F-Rick-Perry-compares-homosexuality-to-5546544.php "undefined")\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/2863576/rick-perry-homosexuality-alcoholism/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/2863576/rick-perry-homosexuality-alcoholism/"},"headline":"'Murmur of Disbelief' As Rick Perry Compared Homosexuality to Alcoholism","datePublished":"2014-06-12T12:51:31.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T08:22:38.525Z","description":"The question came days after the Republican Convention in Texas approved language supporting access to “reparative therapy” for gays and lesbians.","url":"https://time.com/2863576/rick-perry-homosexuality-alcoholism/","keywords":["republicans","Texas","California","Gay Rights","Homosexuality","rick perry"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Noah Rayman","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/noah-rayman/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/republicans/","name":"republicans"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/2863576/rick-perry-homosexuality-alcoholism/","name":"'Murmur of Disbelief' As Rick Perry Compared Homosexuality to Alcoholism"}}]}] ```