A Republican candidate, who is the only Republican running for a House seat in Missouri, made headlines this week for his outrageous claim about gays and lesbians.

Sixty-five-year-old Hardy Billington, who is running to represent Poplar Bluff in Butler County, said that “With all the attention on smoking, which the National Cancer Institute says takes from 7 to 10 years off someone’s life, why not the same human outcry on homosexuality?”

The Republican has taken out two advertisements in local newspapers supporting anti-LGBT policies.

“Study after study reveals that homosexuality, whether male or female, can take anywhere from 10, 20 to 30 years off of someone’s lifespan,” he added.

“Here’s a behavior that’s killing people 2 to 3 times the rate of smoking, yet nobody seems to care. In fact, we are encouraging and affirming individuals into the ‘gay’ lifestyle. If you truly love someone, you would steer them away from self-destructive behaviors, rather than towards them, shouldn’t you? Homosexuals need our tough love, not blind love, the kind of love that is going to love them no matter what they say and do.”