Piers Morgan has come to the defense of
Kirk Cameron, who has come under fire for anti-gay comments he made
during an appearance on CNN's Piers Morgan Tonight.
The 41-year-old Cameron said that being
gay is destructive to society and that he would not be supportive if
one of his six sons told him he was gay.
Cameron came to prominence as a child
actor, playing Mike Seaver on the ABC sitcom Growing Pains.
More recently, he played Caleb Holt in the 2008 film Fireproof.
He and fellow evangelist Ray Comfort
founded the ministry of The Way of the Master.
When Morgan asked, “Do you think
homosexuality is a sin?” Cameron answered: “I think it's
unnatural, that it's detrimental and ultimately destructive to so
many of the foundations of civilization.”
The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against
Defamation (GLAAD) criticized Cameron's remarks.
“In this interview, Kirk Cameron
sounds even more dated than his 1980s TV character,” said Herndon
Graddick, senior director of programs at GLAAD. “Cameron is out of
step with a growing majority of Americans, particularly people of
faith who believe that their gay and lesbian brothers and sisters
should be loved and accepted based on their character and not
condemned because of their sexual orientation.”
Morgan told celebrity website TMZ.com
that Cameron was simply “being honest to what he believed.”
“I think that he was pretty brave in
what he said,” Morgan said. “I mean, It's what many would
argue, an antiquated view.” (Watch
the exchange at TMZ.com.)
GLAAD also launched a
Change.org petition calling on Cameron to “finally grow up.”