A pastor has admitted sending an abusive email to a prominent gay author in which he prayed for the author's death.
Logan Robertson told Auckland writer Jim Marjoram: "I pray that you will commit suicide, you filthy fag."
Mr Robertson, from Westcity Bible Baptist Church, was replying to a message Marjoram sent to Auckland churches about his new autobiography, It's Life Jim, and support group Silent Gays.
The exchange, which was shared on Reddit and Facebook, has sparked outrage on social media. Mr Robertson told NZME. News Service he "hadn't really had a look" at the reaction to his email and denied he had done anything wrong.
He added: "I didn't tell him to go and commit suicide. I said I prayed that he would. All I did was write what I wrote, and then I prayed about it that he would, and that's it. There's nothing more to say."
Marjoram's book details his struggle with his sexuality and his life as a fundamentalist Christian for over 40 years.
In his email to Marjoram, Mr Robertson quoted and referred to parts of the Bible.
"We are not interested in your filthy lifestyle or book. The Bible says you are vile, strange (queer), reprobate, filth, sodomite, natural brute beasts, made to be taken and destroyed.
"I pray that you will commit suicide, you filthy fag."
