Anti-sex opinions are hardly new to the Republican Party. Candidates have passionately shared views against premarital sex, gay sex — even non-procreative sex within marriage. Has the US turned into a culture of killjoys or is this just the view of the ultra conservative right?

Presidential candidate Rick Santorum has compared gay sex to bestiality, while another candidate Rick Perry has condemned the “sin” of homosexuality, and dropout Michele Bachmann has compared homosexuality to a “personal enslavement.”

This anti-sex agenda is not new to the Republican Party. The party is well known for restricting access to contraceptives and abortion. 

This presidential campaign season however, the GOP candidates are finding themselves to be out of line with the sexual beliefs and practices of most Americans. According to sex therapist Marty Klein, “the private sexual behavior of all ages, of all political persuasions is getting more liberal. The vast majority of Americans have sex before marriage,” and they are ok with it. In addition, 99% of Americans who have ever had sex have used some sort of contraception. When it comes to sex-related policy, over half of Americans are in favor of nationally recognized same-sex marriage.

Then why is the Republican party becoming more sexually conservative when the rest of America is becoming more sexually liberal? It seems that with more states legalizing gay marriage, the more opposition increases from the right. The Republican Party depends on the religious right and can’t win the White House without talking about preserving religious morality.

Yet, a Public Religion Research Institute poll found that nearly 90% of catholic women are in favor of expanding access to birth control to women who can’t afford it.

The ultra right needs to see the opposition of a culture of sexual promiscuity. And this is exactly what Republican hopefuls are giving them. With sex though, things are different. According to Klein, “every time it’s about sex, we’re going in ewith one hand tied behind our back - and not in a good way.”

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What do you think about the Republican Party’s anti-sex agenda?