Tony Perkins Is Furious CrossFit Canned Its Antigay Employee

Family Research Council president Tony Perkins is defending Russell Berger, a homophobic CrossFit employee fired after he heralded the cancellation of an LGBT event and called gay Pride celebrations "a sin."

Responding to an Indianapolis CrossFit location canceling a Pride workout, Berger recently tweeted: "As someone who personally believes celebrating 'pride' is a sin, I'd like to personally encourage #CrossFitInfiltrate for standing by their convictions and refusing to host an @indypride workout. The intolerance of the LGBTQ ideology toward any alternative views is mind-blowing."

After calling Berger a "zealot" and saying he "needs to take a big dose of 'shut the f - k up,'" CrossFit CEO Greg Glassman fired Berger, who was described as a legal researcher by the company.

Notorious homophobe Perkins, who serves as a member of Trump's Evangelical Advisory Board, authored an op-ed featured in the right-wing publication The Patriot Post.

Perkins's fiery commentary made clear his disgust at CrossFit's efforts to distance itself from its homophobic employee. Perkins claims, "There should be no debate about the ruthless hostility that CrossFit's CEO has for a view that roughly half the country holds! No one should level this kind of vitriol at an employee and expect to be taken seriously on matters of tolerance."

Perkins's argument centers on the idea that Berger had the right to voice his opinions regarding the LGBT community on his personal social media, reinforcing the Supreme Court's recent decision that sided with a baker who discriminated against a gay couple.

In fact, Perkins attempts to draw connections between the Supreme Court's recent decision regarding baker Jack Phillips in the Masterpiece Cakeshop case and Glassman's tweets about Berger.

"Glassman's response is exactly the kind of animus the Supreme Court condemned in its opinion on baker Jack Phillips," Perkins writes.