A recent town hall meeting sponsored by the Maryland Family Alliance, a coalition working to defeat Maryland’s marriage equality law, has inflamed the gay marriage debate on news that a local pastor declared that LGBT people and their supporters are “worthy of death.”

Speaking during a panel discussion on Oct. 19 on the upcoming Maryland ballot initiative, Question 6, that asks votes to approve or reject the same-sex marriage law approved in the state legislature and signed by Gov. Martin O’Malley earlier this year, the Rev. Robert J. Anderson read from scripture as part of his argument against allowing same-sex unions.

“Those who practice such things are deserving of death,” Anderson said, quoting from Romans, Chapter 1. He went on to argue that if Question 6 is not defeated on Nov. 6, “then we are approving those things that are worthy of death.”

Anderson is the pastor of the Colonial Baptist Church in Randallstown, Md.

Watch, courtesy Jeremy Hooper at Good as You:

Anderson also said that same-sex marriage is a slippery slope to prostitution, bestiality and polygamy.

Maryland Family Alliance Executive Director Derek McCoy issued a written statement saying, “Any attempt to imply that Dr. Anderson’s reading of scripture was a call to harm gays and lesbians is false and serves as a distraction of the real issues of this campaign.”

McCoy says his group is committed to the dignity and respect of all people, but that marriage is reserved for one man and one woman.