Mississippi state Rep. Andy Gipson is
under fire after he criticized President Barack Obama's support for
gay marriage.
The GOP lawmaker posted on his
now-deleted Facebook page: “Been a lot of press on Obama's opinion
on 'homosexual marriage.' The only opinion that counts is God's: see
Romans 1:26-28 and Leviticus 20:13. Anyway you slice it, it is sin.
Not to mention horrific social policy.”
Gipson deleted the post, but not before
several blogs captured screen grabs, including The Huffington
Post, and noted that the Leviticus passage calls for the death of
gays.
The lawmaker said in a separate post
that he had received threats.
“Here at home I've received several
threats in one day, to me personally, via email and on the phone, and
at least one apparent death-threat left on the answering machine to
my whole family,” he wrote.
“I reject and resent that accusation;
I have [never] condoned or requested the killing [of gay people].
What I did intend and did say is that the Bible clearly defines
homosexual conduct as morally wrong – a sin,” he added.
A change.org
online petition calling for a public apology from Gipson has
attracted several hundred signatures.