Former Republican Presidential candidate Ben Carson said being transgender "doesn't make any sense" on Monday, the latest in his long history of controversial comments he has made about the LGBTQ community.
Speaking at a Florida delegation breakfast alongside the Republican National Convention in Cleveland, Carson compared being transgender to someone deciding they are Afghan after seeing a movie or reading a book about Afghanistan, calling it "absurd."
"For thousands of years, mankind has known what a man is and what a woman is, and now all of a sudden we don't know anymore," Carson said, as the audience reportedly applauded. "Now, is that the height of absurdity? Because today you feel like a woman, even though everything about you genetically says that you're a man or vice versa?"
"Wouldn't that be the same as if you woke up tomorrow morning after seeing a movie about Afghanistan or reading some books and said, 'You know what? I'm Afghanistan. I know I don't look that way. My ancestors came from Sweden, or something, I don't know. But I really am. And if you say I'm not, (then) you're racist,'" he said, according to CNN.
The politician has formerly also said being gay is a choice, that marriage equality would lead to polygamy, and that businesses should have the right to discriminate against LGBTQ customers. He also proposed separate bathrooms for transgender identifying individuals after the Obama administration directed public schools to allow students to use the bathroom that matches their gender identity. In an earlier interview with the Hill, he made similar comments about transgendered people.
"It’s not based on your feelings, it’s based on what you are," Carson said. "Can a leopard change its spots? No. It can’t because it feels like maybe it’s a different creature. No. it’s still a leopard. Sorry."
