''This not a policy difference. This not even about gay marriage. That can be a political or policy difference that, obviously, Barack Obama has with many gay and lesbian people. This about the way that Pastor Warren has used homosexuality as a weapon, that he uses religion as a weapon to suggest that gay relationships are akin to incest and pedophilia.... It's a matter of using a moral, religious authority to divide one group from another.''

Hilary Rosen of Huffington Post expressing her anger over Obama's decision to choose Rick Warren to participate in the upcoming Inauguration as part of a discussion on CNN with Anderson Cooper. (CNN via YouTube)

Rick Warren was a leading supporter of Proposition 8 and has repeatedly equated gay marriage rights with incest, pedophilia and polygamy. Obama previously appeared at Warren's Saddleback Church in August to take part in a presidential candidate discussion where he defined marriage as the sacred union between a man and a woman, but then said he wouldn't support a constitutional amendment defining it as such, and said there's room for some to be afforded some similar civil rights.

''Your invitation to Reverend Rick Warren to deliver the invocation at your inauguration is a genuine blow to LGBT Americans. Our loss in California over the passage of Proposition 8 which stripped loving, committed same-sex couples of their given legal right to marry is the greatest loss our community has faced in 40 years. And by inviting Rick Warren to your inauguration, you have tarnished the view that gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender Americans have a place at your table.''

Joe Solmonese, President of HRC, in a public letter to president-elect Barack Obama regarding his choice of Rick Warren to deliver the invocation at the inauguration in January (HRC)

''Now, here's an interesting thing. Just -- there are about 2% of Americans are homosexual -- are gay, lesbian people. We should not let 2% of the population determine -- to change the definition of marriage that has been supported by every single culture and every single religion for 5,000 years. This is not just a Christian issue, it's a humanitarian and human issue that, uh, uh -- God created marriage for the purpose of family, love and procreation. So, I urge you to support Proposition 8.''

Pastor Rick Warren in a recorded message for his followers to support the repeal of gay marriage in California. (via YouTube)