During Wednesday's episode of Christian
Broadcasting Network's The 700 Club, host Pat Robertson urged
Maryland lawmakers not to extend marriage to 'sodomites.'
The 80-year-old televangelist made his
remarks before airing a video report on the subject of gay marriage
in Maryland.
“There was a time in America where
sodomy was a crime, where people were condemned if they were
sodomites. Now the battle is to not only legitimize it but to afford
marriage rights to those who are practicing sodomy.”
“It's amazing,” Robertson added.
“They call gays – or whatever the term is these days – but the
battle is now being waged in Maryland.” (View
a clip of the segment at Equality Matters' website.)
Robertson has a long history of
anti-gay rhetoric.
In November of 2009 as Maine prepared
to vote on a gay marriage law, Robertson said, “You mark my words,
this is just the beginning in a long downward slide in relation to
all things we consider to be abhorrent,” and then suggested that
polygamy, bestiality, child molestation and pedophilia would soon
follow.
Weeks earlier, before Congress approved
a hate crimes bill that protects gay, lesbian, bisexual and
transgender persons against violent bias-related crimes, Robertson
suggested the bill would protect someone who “likes to have sex
with ducks” or “little boys.”
“You got somebody, he's really weird,
and his sexual orientation is that he likes to have sex with ducks.
Is he protected under hate crime? Is he protected if he likes to
have sex with little boys?” Robertson asked.