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Dec. 18 (UPI) -- Phil Robertson's anti-gay comments appear to have cost him his second job starring on A&E's enormously successful reality show, Duck Dynasty. Robertson, who began a successful business making duck calls for hunters, railed against homosexuality in a recent interview with GQ, calling "homosexual behavior" a sin.
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On Wednesday, A&E suspended Robertson from the show "indefinitely."
"We are extremely disappointed to have read Phil Robertson’s comments in GQ, which are based on his own personal beliefs and are not reflected in the series Duck Dynasty," the network said in a statement. "His personal views in no way reflect those of A+E Networks, who have always been strong supporters and champions of the LGBT community. The network has placed Phil under hiatus from filming indefinitely.”
“We’re Bible-thumpers who just happened to end up on television,” Robertson said in the interview.
Asked what he considered sinful, Robertson said: “Start with homosexual behavior and just morph out from there. Bestiality, sleeping around with this woman and that woman and that woman and those men."
“Don’t be deceived. Neither the adulterers, the idolaters, the male prostitutes, the homosexual offenders, the greedy, the drunkards, the slanderers, the swindlers -- they won’t inherit the kingdom of God. Don’t deceive yourself. It’s not right," he added, referencing Corinthians.
"It seems like, to me, a vagina -- as a man -- would be more desirable than a man's anus," he said. "That's just me. I'm just thinking: There's more there! She's got more to offer. I mean, come on, dudes! You know what I'm saying?"
Robertson's comments were immediately condemned by gay rights groups, including GLAAD.
"Phil and his family claim to be Christian, but Phil's lies about an entire community fly in the face of what true Christians believe," GLAAD rep Wilson Cruz said. "He clearly knows nothing about gay people or the majority of Louisianans -- and Americans -- who support legal recognition for loving and committed gay and lesbian couples. Phil's decision to push vile and extreme stereotypes is a stain on A&E and his sponsors who now need to re-examine their ties to someone with such public disdain for LGBT people and families."
Robertson responded with a statement calling himself "a product of the '60s."
I centered my life around sex, drugs and rock and roll until I hit rock bottom and accepted Jesus as my Savior. My mission today is to go forth and tell people about why I follow Christ and also what the Bible teaches, and part of that teaching is that women and men are meant to be together. However, I would never treat anyone with disrespect just because they are different from me. We are all created by the Almighty and like Him, I love all of humanity. We would all be better off if we loved God and loved each other.
