Brian Brown: Same sex marriage worse than death or divorce

Brian Brown, the president of the National Organization for Marriage, on Wednesday compared same-sex marriage to the death of a parent.

In a prepared statement, Brown lashed out at the Rhode Island legislature for approving a bill that would allow same-sex couples to marry.

"For the first time, the state of Rhode Island is saying to its children they do not deserve both a mother and a father, and are backing a law that is designed to intentionally deprive some kids of either a mom or a dad," Brown said. "It's bad enough when families break down through divorce or death, but it's unconscionable when a state encourages this through policies that deprive children of the love of both a mother and a father. This is a very sad day for Rhode Island."

Chad Griffin, president of the Human Rights Campaign, has called on Brown to apologize for his remarks.

“Brian Brown should apologize immediately– this represents a new low even for someone who has made a career out of demeaning LGBT people and their families,” said Griffin. “Same-sex parents are raising two million kids across this country. Brian Brown owes an explanation to those families as to why, in his eyes, they are not worthy of the same dignity, rights, and protections as other families.”