After “Growing Pains” star Kirk Cameron made some controversial remarks about homosexuality and gay marriage to CNN’s Piers Morgan Friday, not everyone was sharing the laughter and love.
Cameron, who played wholesome Mike Seaver on the late eighties sitcom, called homosexuality “destructive” and gay marriage “ultimately destructive to so many of the foundations of civilization.”
The comments sparked a firestorm from the gay community, other celebrities and even from some of his former onscreen family. Onscreen sister Tracy Gold tweeted that she is “a strong supporter of the #LGBT Community, and I believe in equal rights for all.” Alan Thicke, who played Cameron’s dad on the sitcom, tweeted that he is “getting him some new books. The Old Testament simply can’t be expected to explain everything.”
Cameron defended his comments in a statement to ABC Tuesday:
I should be able to express moral views on social issues, especially those that have been the underpinning of Western civilization for 2,000 years — without being slandered, accused of hate speech, and told from those who preach ‘tolerance’ that I need to either bend my beliefs to their moral standards or be silent when I’m in the public square.
Others came to the actor’s defense for his statements.
Actor Stephen Baldwin, brother of fervent liberal Alec Baldwin, defended Cameron on HLN’s “Showbiz Tonight” Monday. “[Kirk Cameron] has the right to stand up and say what he believes in,” Baldwin said. “What he means is the nuclear family is the origin of what this country was founded on…So there is marriage between a man and a woman…and that’s obviously changing.”
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