At a rally held on Monday to oppose passage of Question 1, Mike Heath described being gay as “intrinsically harmful and evil.”

Heath, the former director of the Maine Christian Civic League, was joined at the State House rally by Peter LaBarbera of the Illinois-based group Americans for Truth about Homosexuality and Paul Madore, a longtime opponent of gay rights. Madore and Heath co-chair the No Special Rights PAC, a committee formed to oppose passage of Question 1, which seeks to legalize marriage for gay and lesbian couples in Maine.

“The truth about the homosexual rights movement is hidden,” the Bangor Daily News quoted Heath as telling a crowd of roughly 35 people. “The pro-family movement hides this fact for fear of being labeled bigots.”

Madore told the crowd that if Question 1 passes, “you give up your rights to free association.”

LaBarbera accused the media of having “the gay activists' back.”

“If there was a fair media, 75 percent to 80 percent of American society would be opposed to the gay agenda,” he said.

After lawmakers approved a gay marriage law in 2009, opponents repealed it at the ballot box.

David Farmer, communications director for Mainers United for Marriage, the campaign working to approve Question 1, said Madore and Heath “are good at saying outrageous things.”