Catholic League President Bill Donohue exclaimed "we're being besieged," during an appearance on CNN with Chris Cuomo. The debate took place in the wake of Arizona's recently vetoed bill SB 1062 that would have allowed business owners to discriminate against LGBT people based on religious belief.
“Where are the examples of gays being discriminated against? If they’re so discriminated against, how come they make more money than straight people on average?” Donohue continued, “Is somebody being denied at Applebee’s getting a hamburger? Where are these examples of gay people being persecuted?”
(While not exactly being denied a hamburger, the FBI reported 43 cases of hate crimes targeting people on account of sexual orientation in Arizona in 2012.)
Donohue allowed that discrimination against LGBT individuals was wrong in all cases except for marriage. He insisted that "Marriage is about family, it's not about love," and declared that "marriage has always been based historically on duty and commitment."
When Cuomo pointed out that, "you do not own marriage-- it was not developed by Christians," Donohue retorted, "I have Christianity, I have Judaism, I have the Muslims, I have Mormons, I have most of the world, who regard this idea as bizarre-- that two men should get married."
A recent survey showed that American support for LGBT causes has risen sharply across religious lines including American Catholics; 58% of whom support the rights of same sex couples to marry.
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