Eric Stonestreet says he refused to pose with Rick Santorum because of the politician's anti-gay rhetoric.

Stonestreet has earned two Emmy Awards for playing gay dad Cameron Tucker on the ABC comedy Modern Family. In the show's season 5 finale, Stonestreet's character married Mitchell (played by out actor Jesse Tyler Ferguson).

Appearing on HuffPost Live this week, Stonestreet discussed an incident at the White House Correspondents Dinner.

“Rick Santorum wanted a picture with me,” Stonestreet said. “It was at a time when he was publicly saying, 'Gay marriage, gay marriage [is wrong],' and I'm like, 'You know, I can't do it.'”

“It was with him and his kids or something like that, and I said, 'I'd be happy to take a picture with the kids, but I can't just be in a picture with [Santorum].'”

During the 2012 presidential campaign, Santorum was among the GOP candidates who signed a National Organization for Marriage (NOM) pledge to oppose marriage equality and, if elected, promise to back an amendment to the U.S. Constitution defining marriage as a heterosexual union.

On the campaign trail, Santorum frequently discussed his opposition to same-sex marriage, comparing it to a paper towel during an Iowa Falls campaign stop, blaming it for the wrecked economy, and suggesting supporters don't respect him.

(Related: Eric Stonestreet: Michael Sam, Jason Collins' coming out gay impacting society.)