think people don't know my heart. I think people feel I'm very judgmental. I think people feel I'm very homophobic. If they knew me, and knew my heart. ... You grow up being a Christian and you grow up believing homosexuality is a sin; you're going to hell if you're a homosexual. This is something that they teach in churches. So it's something that I grew up believing," she said.
"I might not agree with your lifestyle, but I love you. You may not agree with my lifestyle, but you love me ... I don't say it's a choice. If you tell me, 'Sherri, I was born gay.' OK. I'm not gonna argue with you, because I can't tell you how you feel and what's going on inside. I'm trying to make it into heaven by the skin of my teeth ... I don't know who I'm gonna see. So if you tell me you're born [gay], I'm not gonna argue with you. And I absolutely respect you for that. I just ask that people respect how I feel, [I] respect how you feel and we can have a great dialogue."
Over the years, Shepherd has repeatedly made headlines for her 'great dialogue', both on The View and in interviews.
Here are just a few of her most memorable moments:
2007: Shepherd stated on the show that she "didn't believe in evolution. Period." When Whoopi Goldberg jokingly asked her if she thought the world was flat, Shepherd said that she didn't know, and "never thought about it." Shepherd continued that it was more important to her that she thought about how she was "going to feed [her] child."
"You can do both," co-host Barbara Walter pointed out.
2007: During a discussion initiated by Joy Behar about Greek philosophy, Shepherd said that Christians existed in classical Greece, and that the Greeks threw them to the lions. When questioned on this point, she said that "Jesus came first" (before Greeks and Romans). When Whoopi Goldberg told her what they were discussing predated that, she said "I don't think anything predated Christians," leaving the other panellists speechless.
2008: Shepherd referred to gospel singer Shirley Caesar as "the black Patti Labelle". Her co-hosts were quick to point out that Labelle herself is indeed black.
2010: During a discussion about HIV/AIDS on the panel, Shepherd repeatedly stated that the higher prevalence of HIV in African American communities is due to women contracting the disease from black men who are 'on the down low' (secretly having sex with other men). The Centre for Disease Control later issue a statement saying Shepherd's comments are based on myths that have been widely disproved.
2012: Referring to actor Kelsey Grammer's claim he and his wife didn't have sex for a whole decade, Shepherd said, "10 years? That's 365 days times 10 - 36,000 days!" (Uh, it's actually 3650 days, Shezza).
2013: Asked her opinion of Miley Cyrus on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Shepherd said, "Oh, she's going to hell in a twerking hand basket."
