Senate candidate Roy Moore of Alabama said that he believed homosexual conduct should be illegal and that it is the equivalent of bestiality in a 2005 interview.
Moore, a former chief justice on the Alabama Supreme Court, responded affirmatively when asked if he believed homosexual behavior should be illegal during an appearance on CSPAN’s “After Words.” He appeared on the program to promote his book on his expulsion from the court for refusing to remove a monument to the Ten Commandments.
Moore was asked during the interview to comment on the 2003 landmark case Lawrence v. Texas that struck down a Texas state law outlawing sodomy.
“What I think is that it was illegal under the law, that the Supreme Court usurped the role of the legislature and ruled something about our moral law that is improper, and that’s what we’re finding the Supreme Court and the federal district courts are doing daily,” Moore told CSPAN’s Bill Press. “They’ve usurped the moral prerogative, now, if you want–”
Press interjected and pushed Moore to answer explicitly as to whether he endorsed legislation banning homosexuality.
“Homosexual conduct should be illegal, yes,” Moore replied.
Press then questioned Moore as to the rationale behind outlawing the behavior of two consenting adults within the privacy of their own home.
“Just because it’s done behind closed doors, it can still be prohibited by state law. Do you know that bestiality, the relationship between man and beast is prohibited in every state?” Moore said.
“Did I ask you about having sex with a cow?” Press responded.
“No you didn’t,” Moore said.
“Or a horse, or a dog?” Press asked.
“It’s the same thing,” Moore said.
“No it’s not. You mean homosexuality is same thing as bestiality?” Press asked.
“It is a moral precept upon which this country was founded,” Moore said.
Moore has distinguished himself as a leading opponent to marriage equality legislation. He was suspended from the Alabama supreme court in 2016 for refusing to adhere to the U.S. Supreme Court decision legalizing gay marriage, and wrote letters to the governors of all 50 states in 2014 to ask for their participation in a constitutional convention to outlaw gay marriage.
Moore, who has campaigned on a fiercely pro-Trump agenda, won the first round of primary voting in August with 39 percent of the vote. Five days before the election Moore leads public polling averages by nine percentage points over incumbent Luther Strange, who was appointed to replace Attorney General Jeff Sessions.
Moore has brought a distinctly Christian message to the campaign trail, focusing on perceived moral outrages that he believes are ravaging American society.
“You think that God’s not angry that this land is a moral slum?” Moore asked the congregation gathered at the Redemption Baptist Church Wednesday. “How much longer will it be before his judgment comes?”
Moore’s office did not respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment in time for comment.
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