Texas Gov. Rick Perry prompted an awkward moment at a talk in San Francisco on Wednesday when he compared homosexuality to alcoholism.

The San Francisco Chronicle reports there was a “murmur of disbelief” among the audience members after Perry responded to a question about whether he believes homosexuality is a disorder:

Whether or not you feel compelled to follow a particular lifestyle or not, you have the ability to decide not to do that. I may have the genetic coding that I’m inclined to be an alcoholic, but I have the desire not to do that, and I look at the homosexual issue the same way.

The question came days after the Republican Party of Texas approved language supporting access to “reparative therapy” for gays and lesbians. At the talk on Wednesday, Perry said he did not know if such therapy works, the Chronicle reports.

[SF Chronicle]

Write to Noah Rayman at noah.rayman@time.com.