After showing compassion toward Bruce Jenner for his recent revelation that he is a woman, former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum clarified that his comments do not amount to a change in policy.
"Many of you may have read a story published by the website BuzzFeed where I was asked for my thoughts regarding Bruce Jenner," Santorum wrote on his
Facebook page.
"My comment affirmed Jenner as a person, made by God in His likeness as we all are," he said. "It was meant to express empathy not a change in public policy."
Santorum
told Buzzfeed during a roundtable discussion at the South Carolina Republican Party convention that "if he's says he's a woman, then he's a woman."
He added that "my responsibility as a human being is to love and accept everybody, not to criticize people for who they are.
"As far as for who they are, you have to respect everybody, and these are obviously complex issues for businesses, for society, and I think we have to look at it in a way that is compassionate and respectful of everybody."
Jenner told
ABC's Diane Sawyer in an interview on April 24 that he is a woman, and that he has thought of himself as a woman for many years.