ATLANTA, GA – Former teen idol Kirk Cameron is at the center of controversy over remarks he made last week during an interview on CNN in which he called homosexuality “unnatural” and detrimental.”
The former teen star of “Growing Pains” was a guest last Friday on the cable network’s “Piers Morgan Tonight,” discussing his views on marriage equality and consensual homosexual behavior. “I think that it’s unnatural,” said Cameron, 41. “I think that it’s detrimental and ultimately destructive to so many of the foundations of civilization.”
Cameron, a Christian evangelist and promoter of The Way of the Master ministry, was equally disapproving of marriage equality, citing Biblical sources. “Marriage is almost as old as dirt, and it was defined in the garden between Adam and Eve. One man, one woman for life till death do you part. So I would never attempt to try to redefine marriage. And I don’t think anyone else should either. So do I support the idea of gay marriage? No, I don’t.”
Officials of the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) condemned Cameron’s remarks, as out of step. “In this interview, Kirk Cameron sounds even more dated than his 1980s TV character,” GLAAD spokesperson Herndon Graddick wrote. “Cameron is out of step with a growing majority of Americans, particularly people of faith who believe that their gay and lesbian brothers and sisters should be loved and accepted based on their character and not condemned because of their sexual orientation.”
Graddick also took issue with the actor’s inaccurate portrayal of marriage equality and his assertions about the definition of marriage: “With an increasing number of states recognizing marriage equality, Americans are seeing that marriage is about committed couples who want to make a lifelong promise to take care of and be responsible for each other and that gay
and lesbian couples need equal security and legal protections. That’s not ‘redefining’ anything.”