Creationist SC senator rips university for booking comedy show about lesbian 'recruiting'

A South Carolina Republican lawmaker is criticizing a school in the University of South Carolina (USC) system for allegedly glorifying same-sex relationships, Right Wing Watch reported.

The allegations by state Sen. Mike Fair (R) against USC Upstate stem from the school agreeing to host a performance of How To Be A Lesbian In 10 Days, a one-woman comedy show by New York-based performer Leigh Hendrix.

"That's not an explanation of 'I was born this way,' Fair was quoted as saying. "It's recruiting."

WYFF-TV reported that Hendrix's performance was subsequently canceled. USC Upstate released a statement saying the show's title was satirical in nature, but was taken literally.

"The controversy surrounding this performance has become a distraction to the educational mission of USC Upstate and the overall purpose of the Bodies of Knowledge symposium," the statement read.

Fair and state Sen. Lee Bright (R) also voted last week against each incumbent member of the university's board of trustees, criticizing the university's Columbia campus for a class that assigns a book he claims attacks former President Ronald Reagan. The State reported that despite their objections, all of the trustees were re-elected in a joint session of the state Legislature.

Last month, state lawmakers voted to strip $17,146 from USC Upstate -- the exact cost of the school's required reading program, which included a collection of stories from the state's first gay-oriented radio station, Rainbow Radio.

"It's just not normal," Fair was quoted as saying. "And then you glorify, or it seems to me, that the promotion at USC is a glorification of same-sex orientation."

Earlier this year, Fair argued to the state Education Oversight Committee that it should not approve new standards for teaching evolution without allowing students to "draw their own conclusions" about creationism.

Watch video on Fair's remarks, as posted online by Right Wing Watch, below.