Trump-backed game composer says LGBTQ+ people are ‘existential threat’ to Western civilization

Marty O’Donnell, the Trump-backed Republican nominee in a competitive congressional race, has described LGBTQ+ people as part of an alliance pushing Western civilization toward an “abyss.”O’Donnell, a video game composer best known for his work on the Halo and Destiny franchises, made the remarks during a June 29 interview, weeks after winning the Republican nomination to challenge Democratic U.S. Rep. Susie Lee in Nevada’s 3rd Congressional District. Related: Nevada chief investigator loses job after calling police officer a homophobic slur“Talk about an existential, existential threat,” O’Donnell said. “We are on the cliff looking down into the abyss. And the abyss is Marxism, its anti-Western philosophy.”He then grouped LGBTQ+ people with Islamists and Marxists, accusing them of pretending to be oppressed. “There is a weird alliance of all these groups,” he said. “So the LGBTQ+ people, the Islamists, the Marxists, you know, they’re all together now.”The comments are part of a broader record in which O’Donnell has portrayed LGBTQ+ equality as a threat to Christianity and Western culture, opposed marriage equality and disparaged transgender identities.The race has national implications. Lee’s Las Vegas-area district is expected to help determine control of the narrowly divided U.S. House. She has represented the seat since 2019.During the same interview, O’Donnell invoked Christian doctrine to condemn Pride. “Pride is one of the seven deadly sins,” he said. “It’s always cracked me up that pride is the big banner for the woke.” O’Donnell added, “I’m all for bringing back shame.”Pride commemorates the modern LGBTQ+ rights movement and represents dignity and resistance to stigma. Later, O’Donnell described arguing with an artificial intelligence chatbot after asking it to compare the lifetime number of sexual partners reported by different groups.“So, yes, it turns out that gay men have the largest number of se