DENVER — Colorado State Rep. Gordon Klingenschmitt is facing criticism for fiery comments comparing gay Boy Scout leaders to child molesters in an online video.
The lawmaker from Colorado Springs used a Bible verse to imply gay troop leaders should face drowning.
“The Bible says this in Matthew Chapter 18, ‘Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to sin, it would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were drowned in the depth of the sea.’ This is what Jesus said about child molesters. If you’re going to cause a child to sin, it would be better if you had a millstone hung around your neck and you were drowned in the depths of the sea,” Klingenschmitt said.
Klingenschmitt didn’t explicitly say gay Boy Scout leaders should be drowned but he appears to imply it.
The state’s largest equal rights organization, One Colorado, is fighting back.
“Rep. Klingenschmitt absolutely has a First Amendment right to say what he did,” One Colorado Executive Director Dave Montez said. “But what Rep. Klingenschmitt needs to understand is that there are lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender young people out there who are struggling with depression, with isolation, with bullying. And when they hear harmful and hurtful statements like this, it doesn’t help.”
Republican Rep. and Assistant Minority Leader Polly Lawrence said in a statement: “He does not speak for the House Republicans. Rep. Klingenschmitt’s inflammatory rhetoric was once again hurtful and does not represent the views of our caucus.”
Added the Colorado Republican Party: “We strongly condemn Gordon Klingenschmitt’s highly offensive comments. As we’ve said in the past, Gordon does not speak on behalf of the party, nor do his words reflect our party’s values.”
It’s not the first time Klingenschmitt has said controversial things.
After Michelle Wilkins was almost killed and her baby taken from her womb in Longmont, the Republican lawmaker said it was a curse of God. He later apologized and the Wilkins family refused his monetary donation.
Klingenschmitt said he wants to run for the State Senate.