Pat Robertson, Conservative Anti-LGBTQ+ Televangelist, Dies at 93

Pat Robertson, the conservative Christian televangelist who once said that homosexuality and Hitler were linked, has died. Through his Christian Coalition, Pat Robertson made religion central to Republican Party politics in America, transforming a small Virginia radio station into the global Christian Broadcasting Network. He was 93 years old.

CBN, which broadcasts Robertson’s show, announced his death on Thursday. An explanation was not provided.

In 2013, Robertson wished Facebook had a "vomit" button to use whenever he saw a photo of a gay couple kissing. Robertson made the comment while answering a viewer question on The 700 Club, his popular talk show. The viewer wanted to know how social media sites like Facebook should handle images of same-sex couples.

“You’ve got a couple of same-sex guys kissing; do you like that? Well, that makes me want to throw up,” Robertson said. “To me, I would punch vomit; not like. But they don’t give you that option on Facebook.”

Following the annual Gay Days festival in Orlando in 1998, he warned people to beware of hurricanes as a result of the celebration.

After the 9/11 terrorist attacks that killed more than 3,000 Americans when airplanes were hijacked and crashed in New York, Virginia, and Pennsylvania, Robertson blamed the act of terror on the LGBTQ+ community.

He was apparently more willing to accept transgender people despite having a long history of antigay rhetoric, arguing in 2013 that gender-affirming surgery can be performed without sin and chastising a co-host who judged trans people.

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