UPDATED: Roy Moore in 2005: Homosexual Conduct Should Be Illegal Because American Morality Comes From the Bible

Equating Homosexuality With Bestiality Is a ‘Moral Precept Upon Which This Country Was Founded’ Said Moore

The man who very likely will become the next Republican U.S. Senator from Alabama has a long history of anti-gay attacks, but a just-unearthed 2005 interview discovered by CNN reveals the depths that hatred reaches. 

“Judge” Roy Moore, twice removed as the chief justice of the Alabama State Supreme Court, in that 2005 interview actually claimed that comparing homosexuality to bestiality is one of the “moral precepts” – one of the principles – of American morality, because American morality comes from the Bible.

If you’ve ever heard Roy Moore argue you know following his train of thought is challenging – he jumps all over the place, including comparing homosexuality to bestiality, and saying homosexual “conduct” should be illegal.

Here’s what Moore has to say, in that 2005 interview with Bill Press, then an MSNBC political analyst, on C-SPAN.

“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 asks Press, after a lengthy conversation about homosexuality.

“Did I ask you about having sex with a cow?” Press, a bit stunned, asks.

“No you didn’t,” Moore replies.

“Or a horse, or a dog?” Press continues.

“It’s the same thing,” Moore insists.

“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.

It’s hard to tell exactly what Moore is saying from the transcript, so watch it on C-SPAN (this portion begins at the 7:20 mark, near the end.)

Moore goes on to insist that morality in America “comes from the Bible.”

In an update, CNN adds that a decade later, in 2015, “Moore was asked, ‘Do you still think that homosexuality should be illegal?'” 

“I think homosexuality should be illegal,” Moore said. “Sodomy was declared illegal by the United States Supreme Court in 1987, it said there was no right under the constitution to enlarge the fundamental rights of homosexuals.”

In the beginning of the 2005 interview Press quotes a portion of Moore’s book.

“You wrote, ‘Homosexual conduct is and has been considered abhorrent, immoral, detestable, a crime against nature, and a violation of the laws of nature and nature’s God upon which the nation and our laws are predicated.'”

Press then asks Moore, “Do you think that homosexuality should be illegal?”

“Homosexuality was illegal in many of the states across this union,” until Lawrence v Texas, Moore replies.

Press goes on to ask Moore, who is not giving him a straight answer, “Do you think that homosexual–homosexuality, or homosexual conduct should be illegal today? That’s a yes or no question,” Press says.