Phil Robertson: I'm As Much Of A Homophobe As Jesus Was

In promoting an upcoming book on his philosophy on life, Phil Robertson has said he loves gay people.

UnPHILtered: The Way I See It arrived on bookstore shelves on Tuesday.

During a Good Morning America appearance to pitch UnPHILtered, Robertson defended remarks he made last year in an interview with men's fashion glossy GQ.

Cabler A&E briefly suspended Robertson for saying that gay sex was an illogical “sin” and putting it in the same category as bestiality and promiscuity.

(Related: Duck Dynasty's Phil Robertson calls gay sex illogical “sin.”)

“I don't hate anybody,” the Duck Dynasty patriarch told GMA's Ryan Owens.

“The only place that I know of that I could have gone to answer that question would be a Bible,” he continued. “The dictionary wouldn’t have explained it. An encyclopedia wouldn’t have explained it, whether it was a sin or not. So I went to the only source I had to answer his question.”

“I'm as much of a homophobe as Jesus was. People who are participating in homosexual behavior, they need to know that I love them,” he added. (Video from the segment is embedded on this page. Visit our video library for more videos.)