Hawaii Rep. Bob McDermott, who is challenging the state's recent gay marriage law, insists he's not “a bigot, a hater, a homophobe, or ignorant.”

McDermott, a Republican, claims that the law – which took effect on Monday – conflicts with a 1998 voter-approved constitutional amendment The amendment, McDermott argues, only allows the Legislature to define marriage as a heterosexual union.

A day after Democratic Governor Neil Abercrombie signed the marriage bill, a judge rejected McDermott's assertions that the law violates the Hawaii Constitution.

Circuit Court Judge Karl Sakamoto said that the Legislature has an inherent right to define marriage through the enactment of statutes, including allowing same-sex marriage as it has done.

Undeterred, McDermott filed a new motion, which is scheduled to be heard on January 13.

Appearing on SiriusXM Progress, McDermott suggested that his lawyer was the reason why his argument did not carry the day in court.

“I had a wonderful attorney, a brilliant guy,” McDermott told Michelangelo Signorile. “But he wasn't a constitutional attorney. He was a real estate attorney. A great guy, a real estate attorney, but not a constitutional expert. We're saying [to the judge], 'Your honor, you made a mistake.'”

He added that he wanted to “inoculate” himself from being called “a bigot, a hater, a homophobe, or ignorant” by sharing that he and his wife once took in a transgender relative and that he has previously worked with gay people.

“Thirty years ago, my wife and I took in her cousin, who had no place to go and he was a transvestite. … I want to inoculate myself so I'm not called a bigot, a hater, a homophobe, or ignorant, because I've gotten a lot of that lately. In 2000, I had an openly male homosexual work for me on my staff. This last legislative session I was the only one in the building who had an openly male homosexual who was HIV positive working for him. This poor guy, he's a friend of mine.”

On why he believes gay couples should be denied marriage, McDermott asserted that gay couples do not need marriage because they cannot procreate.

“The state's compelling interest in marriage is for the welfare and care of the children. … That's the reason the state got involved in marriage. … Homosexual couples cannot create children. It's impossible,” he said.