The mayor of Birmingham, Alabama, has refused to sign a proclamation for an annual gay pride celebration in the city.

Mayor Larry Langford has also denied the group a parade permit, The Birmingham News reports.

Langford says he turned down the requests, because it's inappropriate for government to endorse a lifestyle.

"I don't think I'm intolerant, I just don't condone the lifestyle," Langford told The Birmingham News. "Your personal lifestyle should be nobody's issue but yours. It's not a civil rights issue; it's a personal issue."

Back in April, Langford called on Birmingham residents to turn to God and to seek peace when the city's murder rate soared.

More than a thousand people turned out for the mayor's family summit where every one received a free Bible.

Source: The Birmingham News