Conservative talk show host Janet Mefferd invited Peter LaBarbera, the anti-gay activist who heads Americans For Truth About Homosexuality, onto her program yesterday to discuss the controversy surrounding the Atlanta fire chief who lost his job after distributing to coworkers his self-published book that contained denunciations of homosexuality.

According to Mefferd, the fire chief’s firing is a sign that conservatives are now forced to be closeted. She borrowed a line from anti-gay author Michael Brown: “It’s kind of like what Michael Brown said, what they want is to shove us in the closet now.” LaBarbera agreed, lamenting that “homophobia is the new sin, homosexuality is out as the sin.”

He went on to criticize Apple CEO Tim Cook for his remarks that he considers “being gay among the greatest gifts God has given me,” which LaBarbera called the “Big Gay Lie Of The Year.”