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Sherri Shepherd defends herself in the accusation that she is anti-gay. The "The View" co-host opened up to Alicia Menendez on "Fusion" that her upbringing made her believe that homosexuality is a sin but she loves gays anyway.

"I think people don't know my heart," she said when asked what the biggest misconception in her life is. "I think people feel I'm very judgmental. I think people feel I'm very homophobic. If they knew me, and knew my heart ...If you come to me respectfully and ask me about my beliefs, I'll talk to you about anything."

She continued, "You grow up being a Christian and you have grown up believing homosexuality is a sin, you're going to hell if you're a homosexual. This is something that they teach in churches, literally. So it's something that I grew up believing. And being on the show has really forced me to go, 'What are your beliefs, Sherri? What is God saying? It says one thing in the Bible and you have these people in your life and how does this apply to you, Sherri?' "

She is begging for respect, saying "I always tell people, 'I may not agree with your lifestyle, but I love you'. You may not agree with my lifestyle, but you love me." She added, "Some people say it's a choice. 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."

Shepherd went on, "I'm trying to make it up to heaven by the skin of my teeth ...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, respect how you feel and we can have a great dialogue. And then afterwards, let's go get a drink."

Shepherd has come under fire several times for her anti-gay point a view. She had spoken out against Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI's stance on same-sex marriage and said that HIV/AIDS numbers are high due to heterosexual black women having unprotected sex with men who were having sex with men.