Idaho Rep. Paul Shepherd, R-Riggins, whose campaign website was taken over and turned into a resource site for LGBT youth, told Idaho Public TV reporter Melissa Davlin today that he views gay people the same way he views slave owners. “They (slave owners) weren’t terrible rotten horrible people,” he said, just people who made terrible decisions. “And that’s how I see gay people.”

Shepherd also referenced slave owners in his House debate in favor of HJM 4, his non-binding memorial to Congress calling for the impeachment of federal judges who rule in favor of gay marriage. At that time, he said, “Their Christian moral beliefs were that blacks were inferior. … They thought they were good Christians, good moral people, and I’m sure most of them were. But it just proves that our interpretation of Christian morals can be very far and wide … so I have no disrespect for anyone that sees it different than I do.” The memorial passed the House 44-25.

Today he took the analogy a step further. His comments came as Shepherd talked with Davlin about the takeover of his political website, for which his domain registration had expired; it was taken over March 22, the AP reports. Davlin’s full post is online here; you can read the AP report here.