Missouri state representative Rick Brattin has come under fire for making offensive remarks during a Missouri House vote on a bill which would require workers claiming discrimination in wrongful termination lawsuits to prove that bias was the explicit reason they were fired. But during a debate for an amendment to the bill that would protect LGBTQ people from being fired based on their gender identity or sexual orientation, the Republican divided his constituents into two sects: human beings, and members of the LGBTQ community.

“When you look at the tenets of religion, of the Bible, of the Qur’an, of other religions,” he said, the Kansas City Star reports, “there is a distinction between homosexuality and just being a human being.”

According to the Kansas City Star, Brattin was saying the ease with which people can sue for discrimination infringes upon “religious liberty." But in an editorial published in the Star in response to Brattin's statement, the paper's editorial board calls his comments "deplorable," pointing out the Constitution protects everyone from discrimination based on one single religious belief.

"The statement, made on the Missouri House floor, was deplorable. It betrayed a stunning lack of understanding of theology and self-government: The Constitution protects all Americans from the tyranny of any single faith-based approach to secular law," the editorial says.

In his statement, Brattin also uses offensive language. Organizations like GLAAD have rejected the use of the term “homosexual” in light of its clinical, anti-LGBTQ history. Using this term perpetuates the idea that members of the LGBTQ community have a distinct and abnormal lifestyle.

This is not the first time Brattin has made controversial statements regarding pending laws. The Republican representative has also pushed for creationism to be taught in schools, for women to require permission from their fathers to have an abortion, and for college athletes to have their scholarships taken away for executing their right to peaceful protest.

While those bills didn’t pass, this bill did. It passed 98-30, without language protecting LGBTQ people.

Related: LGBTQ Discrimination Ruled Unlawful by Federal Court