Roy Moore, the disgraced former judge and current frontrunner in a US Senate election, has said that “homosexual conduct should be illegal.”
The conservative Christian politician also compared homosexuality with bestiality.
Moore, who is running for the US Senate seat vacated by Donald Trump’s Attorney General Jeff Sessions, made the comments during a 2005 interview, according to CNN.
Last week, it was revealed that he has appeared multiple times on a radio show hosted by pastor Kevin Swanson, who is known for preaching that gay people must be stoned to death.
He also said he didn’t know whether gay people should be executed.
Moore has a lead over his GOP primary opponent Luther Strange in the race to become Alabama’s Senator.
During the interview with liberal pundit Bill Press on C-SPAN2’s After Words, discussion turned to the landmark 2003 Supreme Court decision to strike down Texas’s state law banning sodomy.
Press asked: “Do you think that homosexual – homosexuality, or homosexual conduct should be illegal today?
“That’s a yes or no question.”
Moore responded: “Homosexual conduct should be illegal, yes.”
Press later asked Moore why the government should legislate to limit what consenting adults do in the privacy of their own homes.
Moore responded by comparing gay sex to bestiality.
“Just because it’s done behind closed doors, it can still be prohibited by state law,” he said.
“Do you know that bestiality, the relationship between man and beast is prohibited in every state?”
“Did I ask you about having sex with a cow?” Press replied.
“No you didn’t,” Moore said.
“Or a horse, or a dog?” Press asked.
“It’s the same thing,” Moore responded.
Press said: “No it’s not. You mean homosexuality is same thing as bestiality?”
“It is a moral precept upon which this country was founded,” Moore replied, obliquely.
Moore is most famous for being ejected from his role as Alabama’s Chief Justice, after abusing his authority in a bid to block gay weddings in the state.
The disgraced justice had issued a string of orders declaring the US Supreme Court ruling on equal marriage “doesn’t apply” in Alabama due to state anti-gay laws, and ordered probate judges to enforce a gay marriage ban.
Moore will face off against Luther Strange in a GOP run-off election this month.
The winner of the Republican run-off will take on Democrat Doug Jones in the special Senate election on December 12.
Victory in the GOP run-off all-but-guarantees victory in the special election, as no Democrat has won a Senate race in the state in more than two decades.
