Mundelein Mayor's Comments On Same-Sex Marriage Stir Controversy

CHICAGO (CBS) -- The mayor of Mundelein ignited some controversy over the July 4th weekend, when he gave a speech and talked about a "moral crisis" in the country, including the recent U.S. Supreme Court decision on same-sex marriage.

"I come to you today with a little bit of a bittersweet feeling. More than any other Fourth of July I can think of," Mundelein Mayor Lentz said in a speech Saturday morning at the village's Fort Hill Heritage Center.

Lentz posted audio of his speech on his Facebook page.

"I'll address the elephant in the room, and that is, some of us are kind of reeling after the Supreme Court decision a week and a half ago," he said. "That's really just one event in a decades-long adventure in a moral crisis that we're in."

Lentz said that moral crisis needs to be talked about more.

"The out-of-wedlock birthrate is just crazy high compared to our history. In the black community, it's at 70 percent; Hispanic non-Caucasian, 50 percent; among Caucasians, over 30 percent; and just a few decades ago, it was a fraction of that," he said.

He also posted a message on Facebook, saying "no offense was intended. Nothing I said was intended to disparage single parents."

A few dozen people commented on his Facebook page.

One wrote, tongue in cheek: " Great speech Mr. Lentz. Gay marriage will definitely be the end of this great nation. Just as interracial marriage was before it."

Another man wrote "One of the truly great things about our republic is that I can vote you out of office."

But some were supportive.

"Great speech," one woman wrote. "I think some people in town owe him an apology."

In an email, Lentz declined further comment.

"I have no followup comments to my speech other than to ask interested folks to listen to it front to back," he wrote.

In:
• Mundelein
• Same-Sex Marriage
• Steve Miller