Two Men Disrupt Santorum Rally, Kiss As They Are Thrown Out

Two men who kissed one another were kicked out of presidential candidate Rick Santorum’s rally Friday evening at Christian Liberty Academy in Arlington Heights, Illinois.

Santorum was 15 minutes into his speech when the two men shouted and got the attention of the crowd. They exchanged a kiss, prompting guards to eject them and the crowd to chant “U-S-A” while they were leaving the gym.

When asked whether the kiss was a public display of affection or merely a symbolic act, Timothy Tross of Lombard and Ben Clifford of Algonquin, declined to comment.

“I don’t think the message should be about what my sexuality is,” Tross said. “It’s the message that he’s saying about sexuality that matters.”

About 50 protesters lined the street before the rally with signs that read “LGBT No H8,” “Catholics Against Santorum” and “If I incorporate myself, would you treat me like a person?” LGBT activist Matt Muchowski, who created the Facebook group “Carmel Catholic Alumni Against Rick Santorum,” planned the protest.

Santorum spent his senior year at Carmel Catholic High School in Mundelein and graduated in 1976.

“We feel it is important to counter Santorum’s anti-gay hate, to set an example to students,” Muchowski said. “Rick sends a message of bullying, but we want high school students to know that other alumni send a message of equality.”

The crowd of protesters, which was described as "mild" by police, was mostly in support of Obama, although there were a couple of Ron Paul fans in the mix. And while some were Carmel alumni, others were there because they heard about it in the news.

Husband and wife, Scott and Sue Delabruere, who went to school when the now-Christian Liberty Academy used to be Arlington Heights High School, said they came because they are both strong supporters of gay rights.

"There was something that bothered us about having someone so offensive in our hallowed halls," Sue Delabruere said.

Santorum's lllinois campaign director, Jon Zahm, estimated 2,100 people were in attendance at the rally—most being strong supporters.

James Doyle, a Mt. Prospect resident, said he came to the rally because he wanted to hear what the former Pennsylvania senator had to say, although he will likely cast his vote for Mitt Romney Tuesday.

“I cannot afford four more years of Obama and his ObamaCare, increased taxes and TARP,” Doyle said.

Leslie Bukowski from Cary, echoed Doyle’s sentiment: “I would vote for anyone who would be better than Obama, and any of them could be better.”

She said she likes Santorum’s social values, but she is more concerned about the economy and jobs. Rather than hearing about how Santorum’s opponents are wrong, she wanted to hear why Santorum is right for the job of presidency.

Santorum's speech focused largely on the importance of the 2012 election and criticized President Barack Obama's commitment to entitlement programs.

"We need a president who understands that America is the greatest country in the history of the world and what we’ve done across this country, across this world, it’s not oppress, it’s not invade, we are not invaders, we are not people that seek gain of territory, oil, property," Santorum said. "What we seek is security for ourselves and liberty and prosperity for others and it’s nothing to apologize for."

The Illinois 2012 primary election is Tuesday and polls show Santorum trailing front-runner Mitt Romney in the Chicago suburbs, but holding a slight lead among conservative downstate voters, according to the Huffington Post.