Gay Activists: Bachmann a 'Target-Rich Environment'

Michele Bachmann has her haters, but now gay rights groups are setting their sights on the Minnesota Republican, with one activist calling her a "target-rich environment." Human rights organizations say they plan to home in this summer on Bachmann's past anti-gay efforts in Minnesota, reports Politico. Bachmann and husband Marcus—who one patient says told him to "pray away the gay"—have said that sexual preference is a choice, and in addition to leading the 2004 push for a ban on gay marriage, Bachmann has credited her stepsister's lesbianism to Satan.

"Given her husband’s positions and things she’s said in past, she’s going to have a really hard time appearing as a reasonable mainstream candidate,” says a Human Rights Campaign rep. Although Bachmann's first campaign ad avoids social issues entirely, gay rights groups will use her stance to help stir support for President Obama—who hasn't quite lived up to expectations when it comes to gay marriage. "It’s not just that [Bachmann] doesn’t believe in marriage," says one gay rights leader. "She doesn’t believe in gay people existing." Bring it on, counters the president of the National Organization for Marriage: “The more that they attack Michele Bachmann on these grounds, the better her chances of winning the Iowa caucuses are." (More Michele Bachmann stories.)