Does Michael Steele Want to Criminalize Homosexuality?

As head of the Republican National Committee (RNC), Michael Steele sure wields a lot of influence. Yes, he's put his foot in his mouth on more than one occasion as head of the RNC, but that doesn't take away from the fact that he's one of the foremost talking heads and leaders in the GOP.

So it's no wonder that folks are wondering what Michael Steele has to say about the party platform of the Texas GOP. It was released a few weeks ago, and it might just be filled with some of the most anti-gay sentiments in the country.

Among the calls of the Texas GOP include:

suggesting that gay people should not be allowed to have children;'

wanting to recriminalize sodomy;

suggesting that straight people who officiate anything that can be construed as a gay wedding be sent to prison;

labeling homosexuality as something that "tears at the fabric of society."

Sounds a little oppressive, right? Not to mention quite un-American. That's why several groups,including the Human Rights Campaign, are out with a call to Michael Steele, urging him as one of the senior leaders in the Republican Party to repudiate this Texas GOP platform.

Steele owes it to Republicans to do so. Much has been made about how the Republican Party wants to become the "big tent" party, or the party that prizes individual liberty. Nothing strikes against those wishes more than this Texas GOP platform, which looks like a party platform more fit for the year 1810 than 2010. Will Michael Steele really stand idly by and say nothing, while the Republican Party in the biggest state in the country openly talks about arresting gay people, and putting straight people who support gay rights in jail?