At a Wausau, Wis., city council meeting on Tuesday night, council member David Nutting used the public comment portion of the meeting to condemn the city’s first LGBT pride parade to be held on June 22. The parade is independent from the Heart of Wisconsin Pride held in August in Wausau.

Nutting called the event a “parade of deviant behaving individuals,” and suggested that parade participants were going to engage in “indecent behavior.” He called on his fellow city council members to pass ordinances against “public indecency as will no doubt be on display in this parade.”

He then read from Romans 1:18-23, an oft-cited Christian Bible passage that suggests that homosexuals are “deserving of death.” Perhaps looking to curtail controversy, Nutting dropped the very last part of the lengthy Bible verse he quoted which contains the reference to death.

Nutting ended his speech by suggesting that gays and lesbians participating in the parade would be performing sex acts during the parade. “People can practice their passions as they want in the privacy of their own homes. They do not, I believe, have a right to practice indecent behavior in front of the citizens of Wausau.”

Here’s a link to the video of the city council meeting. Nutting’s remarks begin at the 1:43:00 mark. And here’s the transcript of his remarks:

Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to be at our last meeting because of a family vacation, so I would like to speak on this following issue right now. As the officially elected representative of alderman of the 3rd district of Wausau and the same district supervisor of Marathon County, State of Wisconsin, I represent an overwhelming majority of district three residents who appose allowing a parade of deviant behaving individuals to be escorted by public law enforcement members through the very heart of our family-oriented city to a beautiful family-oriented public park where no doubt their choice of indecent behavior will be on full display for influential children and the media to proclaim it worldwide.

This isn’t speech. This is behavior. I ask that all residents stay away from the parade or if you do go, stand with your back to the parade of deviant behaving individuals. I respectfully ask for our various media outlets to pay little or no attention to the parade just as you do to any parade in this city

This parade does not reflect what the City of Wausau wants to be known by and as the duly elected official of this district, that is thr route and the ending. I must strongly state our district’s opposition to this event. We already regulate many forms of public behavior throughout this baeutifil city and have done so tonight for the well bring of our citizens and the reputation thereof.

I strongly urge council to prepare additional ordiannces against public indecency as will no doubt be on display
in this parade at the end.

If residents of the third district change their minds on what I am proclaiming they can change in April.

I quote now from the holy scriptur the Book of Romans chapter 1 verses 18-28:

For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. 19 For what can be mknown about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. 20 For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, nhave been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world,7 in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. 21 For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they obecame futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22 Claiming to be wise, they became fools, 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.
24 Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, 25 because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.
26 For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; 27 and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error.
28 And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to aa debased mind to do bwhat ought not to be done.

[Nutting omitted the next two sentences from that passage which read: They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, 30 slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, 31 foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. 32 Though they know God’s righteous decree that those who practice such things ddeserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them.]

People can practive their passions as they want in the privacy of their own homes. They do not, I believe, have a right to practice indecent behavior in front of the citizens of Wausau.”