On VCY America’s “Crosstalk” radio program last week, anti-gay activist Peter LaBarbera and host Vic Eliason waxed nostalgic for the days when LGBT people could not live openly for fear of violence and discrimination against them.

“We’re going to be talking about something that’s very unpleasant. It’s called homosexuality…lesbian activity…LGBT kind of stuff,” Eliason warned his listeners before fondly recalling an era when gays and lesbians didn’t feel comfortable coming out. “In an illicit manner people had created a lifestyle that was permissive, it was lewd and lascivious. They were violating a moral code — and so they were hiding in the closet.”

LaBarbera pointed his finger at the “homosexual lobby” for wanting to “normalize the abnormal.” He lamented that America is witnessing a rise in “biblical illiteracy” and that “people are ignorant to the facts of homosexuality.”

Citing links between sex between men and exposure to HIV, LaBarbera explained the need for anti-gay awareness campaigns like those used to warn against tobacco use. “Where are the cries to stop practicing this behavior?” he demanded. “They did that for smoking, why not for homosexual behavior?”