Rick Santorum is a frothy mixture. He’s spent decades as a politician, political figure, political commentator and Republican presidential nominee saying awful things about the LGBTQ community. These statements weren’t just a couple of off-hand remarks in an interview 10 years ago either – as a senator, he used his bully pulpit to pontificate about how homosexual sex acts are not private, gay people should be punished and shunned for being gay and equating LGBTQ people to people who commit bestiality.

What’s the point of all of this? Two things. One, it’s very likely that Santorum is going to run for president again (lucky us, huh?). Two, Santorum answered a question about Bruce Jenner’s transition with a surprising amount of… compassion? Is this real?

Possible Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum is weighing in on Bruce Jenner’s transition. After revealing to Diane Sawyer that he is transitioning from a man to a woman, the 65-year-old Olympic gold medalist and parent of six received some “respect” from the conservative politician.

“If he says he’s a woman, then he’s a woman,” Santorum told a group of reporters Saturday at the South Carolina Republican convention. “My responsibility as a human being is to love and accept everybody. Not to criticize people for who they are.”

During his two-hour sit down with ABC News, Bruce also admitted to being a Republican. In fact, he told Sawyer that he would go to House Speaker John Boehner and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to help promote the LGBT cause.

“In a heartbeat, why not,” he told Sawyer. “And I think they’d be very receptive to it.”

Santorum, however, has not always been open about LGBT rights. The politician recently made headlines with his strict views on same-sex marriage after saying that he would not attend a same-sex wedding because it “would be a violation of my faith.” But on the topic of Jenner, the 56-year-old urged the public to react in a “compassionate and respectful” manner.

“I can criticize, and I do, for what people do, for their behavior. But as far as for who they are, you have to respect everybody, and these are obviously complex issues for businesses, for society,” he said. “And I think we have to look at it in a way that is compassionate and respectful of everybody.”

[From E! News]

As you might remember, I thought the most shocking thing in Jenner’s 20/20 interview was his admission that he’s a Republican. Which… I mean, his body, his choice and I would assume Jenner’s politics are more about “conservative economics” than anything else. I think it will be interesting to see more potential or actual Republican politicians get questions about transgender Americans. Honestly, I can see a lot of them parsing their words like Santorum. If you really look at what he said, he’s saying that as a Christian, it’s his duty to “love and accept everyone” but as a politician, he would criticize (and punish) transgender and gay people for “their behavior.” So, it’s sort of okay if you’re LGBTQ, just don’t DO anything about it. No transitioning, no gay sex. NEVER!

Photos courtesy of WENN.