Dr. Ben Carson: Being Gay is a Choice - Look at Prisoners

Retired neurosurgeon and possible 2016 GOP presidential candidate Dr. Ben Carson is making headlines after he made controversial comments Wednesday saying that prison is proof that being gay is a choice, CNN reports.

His comments were made during CNN's "News Day" in a response to a question asked by host Chris Cuomo, who asked if being gay was a choice.

"Absolutely," Carson said. "Because a lot of people who go into prison go into prison straight -- and when they come out, they're gay. So, did something happen while they were in there? Ask yourself that question."

He said this argument "thwarts" the idea that homosexuality is not a choice. Nevertheless, the majority of the medical community, including the American Psychological Association would disagree with Carson as the leading organization says, "most people experience little or no sense of choice about their sexual orientation."

Carson's remarks on the LGBT community didn't stop there. He also went on to talk about the marriage equality situation in America and said same-sex marriage should be decided by the states and not on the federal level. He added that he thinks same-sex couples can have the rights of marriage without the word "marriage" defining their relationships.

"Why do gay people want to get married? Why do they say they want to get married? Because they want to have various rights -- property rights, visitation rights," he said. "Why can't any two human beings, I don't care what their sexual orientation is, why can't they have the legal right to do those things? That does not require changing the definition of marriage."

This isn't the first time Carson made controversial remarks about homosexuality. As Politico points out, he compared same-sex marriage to pedophilia and bestiality in 2013 during an interview on Fox News.

"It's a well-established, fundamental pillar of society and no group, be they gays, be they NAMBLA, be they people who believe in bestiality," he said. "It doesn't matter what they are. They don't get to change the definition."

Carson eventually withdrew himself from a commencement speech at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine after students and staff voiced that they were outraged at his comments.

"Of course, gay people should have the same rights as everyone else," Carson told attendees at the Conservative Political Action Conference in 2014. "But they don't get extra rights. They don't get to redefine marriage."