Dr. Ben Carson (Photo : Reuters/ Kevin Lamarque)
After Barack Obama, there is a possibility that the United States will have another black president in the person of retired neurosurgeon Dr. Ben Carson, a potential Republican candidate for president in 2016.
Aside from the possibility of being the next African American president, Carson also became controversial recently when he made a comment on homosexuality being a choice during her interview on "New Day" with CNN's Chris Cuomo.
When Cuomo asked him whether being gay is a choice, Carson replied, "Absolutely."
Carson explained that homosexuality is a choice because many people who go into prison "go into prison straight, and when they come out, they're gay."
The 63-year-old famed brain surgeon also gave his opinion on the legal rights of same-sex couples saying "gay people want to get married" and say they want to get married because they want to have various rights, which include property rights and visitation rights.
"Why can't any two human beings, I don't care what their sexual orientation is, why can't they have the legal right to do those things?" Carson went on to ask.
Two experts gave their comments to Washington Post on Carson's opinion on homosexuality being a choice.
The University of Tennessee criminal justice professor Helen Eigenberg said that Carson's analogy is "insane."
Having spent 25 years studying sexuality and incarceration, Eigenberg said she does not know of any researches or data that substantiate the claim that men go to prison and come out gay.
Former psychology professor at Columbia and Rutgers June Reinisch also said behavior can be chosen but never "who you fall in love with."
