On November 30, Reverend Pat Robertson described gays and lesbians as “self-absorbed hedonists ... that want to impose their particular sexuality on the rest of America.” Later in the same edition of the Christian Broadcasting Network's (CBN) The 700 Club, Robertson, host and Christian Coalition of America founder, remarked that it's “just absurd” that the current U.S. Supreme Court “ruled that homosexuality is a constitutionally protected right.” Robertson was referring to a June 26, 2003, 6-3* ruling in the Lawrence v. Texas case that the Texas statute “making it a crime for two persons of the same sex to engage in certain intimate sexual conduct” is unconstitutional. Robertson incorrectly claimed that the court ruled 5-4 on the case.

During the news report segment of the November 30 700 Club, Robertson stated:

Before we get into the legalities of this whole thing [same-sex marriage] and what the [U.S.] Supreme Court did, I'd like to show you what Jesus said. I think his word, in my opinion, the final word on it. In Matthew, he [Jesus] said this ..."'Haven't you read,' he [Jesus] replied, 'that at the beginning the Creator 'made them male and female,'"-- I want to emphasize that male and female. And he [Jesus] says, "'For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh' [Matthew 19:1-5, New International Version]."

Now that, ladies and gentlemen, is the basis of marriage. It is male-female, not male and male, not female and female. It is male and female. There is no way that two women can reproduce. There's no way that two men can reproduce. The whole concept of marriage is to bring forth a godly seed, to bring forth children who will grow up to serve the Lord.

That's what marriage is about and it is about nothing else. It has nothing to do with these hedonists, self-absorbed hedonists, if you will, that want to impose their particular sexuality on the rest of America. They don't need marriage because marriage was the protection of men and women, male and female, for the bringing forth of children. That's what it's about, nothing else, bottom line. And if America goes the other way we will be flying directly in the face of the clear word of the Bible.

[...]

ROBERTSON: I can't see this current [U.S. Supreme] court, who's already ruled that homosexuality is a constitutionally protected right -- which is just absurd -- but they ruled that, 5 to 4. How will they rule otherwise in relation to marriage?

Robertson's words echoed those of former Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate in Illinois, Alan Keyes. On August 30, while being interviewed at the Republican National Convention, Keyes stated that gays and lesbians, including Vice President Dick Cheney's daughter Mary, are “selfish hedonists.” According to a September 2 New York Times report, a spokesman for Vice President Dick Cheney said Keyes's statements were “inappropriate.”

* Media Matters originally wrote that the ruling was 5-4, as Robertson had claimed. In fact, the court ruled 6-3.