Louie Gohmert rallies blacks: You won your freedom so you can discriminate against gays

Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-TX) on Wednesday told African-Americans that they had fought in the Civil Rights Movement for the right to support an Arizona bill that would protect businesses which discriminate against LGBT people on the basis of "religious freedom."

In a radio interview, the Texas Republican asserted to conservative host Janet Mefferd that President Barack Obama would have never been elected president in 2008 if he had said "marriage was between two men and two women."

Gohmert explained that Arizona's SB 1062 was necessary because the current mindset was, "if you're not willing to embrace the liberal beliefs that we have then your religious beliefs are not protected."

He added that the First Amendment had avoided establishing a religion, but "some are establishing the religion of secularism. And everybody else's religion has basically just got to go to blazes."

Mefferd argued that many liberals had been wrong to draw comparisons between the Civil Rights Movement and the fight for LGBT equality.

"So many black pastors have stood up and said this is not analogous," she remarked. "The Civil Rights Movement was a totally different ball of wax than what we're seeing right now."

"Some of them are very shocked, they participated in the Civil Rights Movement," Gohmert agreed. "And then to turn around and have gay rights folks saying, now, 'You can’t practice your religious beliefs.’"

"Wait a minute, wait a minute, we stood up for you and your beliefs and now you’re saying we can’t stand up for our beliefs because they conflict with you?" he added. "This is not what freedom is about. I'm supposed to be able to have freedom to worship as I believe and actually follow the teachings in the Bible if those are my beliefs."

"It's incredible that we have gotten as far away as we have from nature's god or nature, whichever you want to proclaim."

Listen to the audio below from the Janet Mefferd Show, broadcast Feb. 26, 2014.

(h/t: Right Wing Watch)