Gay rights groups the Courage Campaign and the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) say they are appalled by a Texas radio station's segment asking listeners if acceptance of gay people will be “the fall of America.”

KTBB radio host Garth Maier asked listeners on Thursday: “Will the acceptance of homosexuality be the fall of America?”

Portions of the radio segment also aired on Tyler-based NBC affiliate KETK. (The video is embedded in the right panel of this page.)

“The gay issue definitely will be the downfall of America,” said one caller. “Obama has got to go.”

In making his case, Maier noted that the Obama administration has appointed a record number of openly gay officials, that the president recorded a video message to troubled gay teens considering suicide as part of the It Gets Better campaign, and claims by a recent survey that 10 percent of teenagers are openly gay.

“GLAAD is appalled that any reputable news organization would even think to invite debate on such a preposterous question, the language of which exhibits the rhetoric used regularly by anti-gay extremists,” GLAAD said in a blog post.

The California-based gay rights group Courage Campaign is demanding NBC executives Jeff Zucker and Steve Burke immediately end their affiliation with KETK.

“We are shocked by the segment aired on KETV-NBC in Texas, in which the anchors asked viewers if the acceptance of gays would lead to the 'downfall of America.' As president of NBC Universal, we demand that you take action now to end your affiliate relationship with KETV immediately,” a protest petition sponsored by the group says.