During his lifetime, Judas Priest frontman Rob Halford has seen a lot of change regarding the acceptance and tolerance of the LGBTQ community, of which he is a part of. While progress has been made in some places, the singer railed against the right-wing Christian agenda, which is pushing through "medieval" laws in his home state of Arizona.

"Don't get me started on the Christian right pushing the LGBTQ community under the bus. They're passing laws here where if you're gay you can lose your job, based on whether the people who run a company follow a religion that doesn't accept people like us," a frustrated Halford told NME in a recent interview.

Earlier this year, Arizona also became one of a handful of states to pass school curriculum laws which seek to silence the suggestion that it is okay to be gay. The state also teaches about the Bible's New Testament and Old Testament, but does not educate its students on any other religious texts.

"It's horrible," the Metal God continued, bemoaning the country he's called home since moving to the U.S. in 1984 (he splits his time between Arizona and England). He bluntly added, "America is supposed to be the world's leading superpower and some of this stuff is medieval."

It's not just the persecution of the LGBTQ community that has Halford casting his doubts as he spoke about other dangers currently facing the nation. "It's not a country where you feel especially safe, and I do think I feel less safe now. You are aware that by walking down the supermarket you might get shot," he said, noting that he tries to rise above it when stating, "But I try not to let that stuff intrude on my life. The politicians, the media, they want you to be scared and I refuse to be."

Regarding religion in his personal life, the singer explained how he uses it to guide his own morality. "I’m just into the basics really," he confessed, detailing, "Try to be a good person, treat others as you’d like to be treated – that stuff was instilled in me as a kid. I’m not much for labels, but I think there’s a big difference between religion and spirituality."

Looking to music as the "respite" regarding the state of chaos enveloping the globe, Halford explained that this was another reason why he enlisted his friends and family to record his recently released Celestial Christmas album. "The shit that’s going down in America right now is ridiculous," he proclaimed, "Not that it’s much better at home with Brexit. The world is so complicated right now."