Virginia delegate says that sodomy is not a civil right

Rob Marshall, a Republican delegate in Virginia, said that "sodomy is not a civil right" in an interview with CNN. Marshall was defending his decision to vote against the judicial nomination of gay prosecutor Tracy Thorne-Begland. 

On Tuesday, Virginia made headlines after the state's conservative lawmakers rejected the judicial nomination of Thorne-Begland, an openly gay prosecutor. The lawmakers argued at the time that Thorne-Begland would have an activist agenda, the New York Times reported. His nomination was also opposed to by the Family Foundation, a powerful conservative lobbying group.

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In the CNN interview, Marshall criticized Thorne-Begland for speaking out against the Don't Ask Don't Tell law. “Dr. Martin Luther King and Rosa Parks never took an oath of office that they broke. Sodomy is not a civil right. It’s not the same as the Civil Rights movement," Marshall said.

Earlier this week, Marshall had also described Thorne-Begland as an “aggressive activist for the pro-homosexual agenda,” Politico reported.