England's largest gay rights advocate,
Stonewall, has named televangelist Pat Robertson its “Bigot of the
Year.”
The group announced its recipient
during its eighth annual Stonewall Awards, which took place at the
Victoria and Albert Museum in London.
Robertson beat out four nominees to
claim this year's title: Niall Ferguson, Reverend George Gebauer,
Scott Lively and Winston McKenzie.
Robertson, the host of the Christian
Broadcasting Network's (CBN) 700 Club, has a long history of
making anti-gay remarks.
In August, he made headlines for
claiming that gay men in San Francisco deliberately spread HIV, the
virus that causes AIDS, with special rings that cut others when
shaking hands.
A 700 Club viewer asked whether
it was wrong for her church not to inform her that she was driving to
worship services a man who is “dying of AIDS.” Robertson told
the woman she would be fine provided she didn't “have sex with
them,” then added, “unless there's a cut or some bodily fluid
transmission.”
“There are laws now,” Robertson
continued. “I think the homosexual community has put these
draconian laws on the books that prohibit people from discussing this
particular affliction. You can tell somebody you had a heart attack.
You can tell them they've got high blood pressure. But you can't
tell anybody you've got AIDS.”
“You know what they do in San
Francisco. Some in the gay community there they want to get people
so if they got the stuff they'll have a ring, you shake hands, and
the ring's got a little thing where you cut your finger,” he added.
“Really. It's that kind of vicious stuff, which would be the
equivalent of murder.”
CBN edited out Robertson's comments in
a video posted online. But Right Wing Watch posted an unedited clip
of Robertson's remarks on
its website.