After describing gay marriage as the “death nail” of marriage on CNN, Tony Perkins, president of the Christian conservative group Family Research Council (FRC), was asked why he dislikes gay people.

Perkins appeared on the news network to discuss the increasing support for equal marriage rights following President Barack Obama's endorsement.

“This could very well be the death nail of marriage and, of course, the real losers here are children,” Perkins said. “We've found that children who grow up with a mom and a dad are much better economically, they're better emotionally, they're better in their educational pursuits. So why would we adopt policy that would move us away from the gold standard. We need to promote that which is good for children and society as a whole not just one or two people here or there.”

After conceding that some gay couples “are probably great parents,” Perkins told anchor Brooke Baldwin: “But that's not what the overwhelming amount of social science shows us.”

“Why do homosexuals bother you so much?” Baldwin asked.

“They don't bother me,” Perkins answered. “I'm not going to be silent while they try to redefine marriage in this country, change policy, what my children are taught in schools and what religious organizations can do. I'm not going to be silent, nor are millions of other Christians across this country.” (The video is embedded in the right panel of this page. Visit our video library for more videos.)

GLAAD President Herndon Graddick cheered how Baldwin handled her guest: “Baldwin used her questions to put his views into context, and told her audience a complete story.”