Priest Sparks Outrage After Saying Homosexuality Is “Transmitted” To Children From Pregnant Mothers

A priest has raised eyebrows by claiming people become gay when expectant mothers have and enjoy anal sex.

In comments that only recently became public knowledge, Church of Cyprus bishop Neophytos Masouras of Morphou reportedly told an audience in June: “It [being gay] is a problem, which is usually transmitted by parents to the child.” He was speaking at a primary school in Akaki, Nicosia District.

“It happens during the parent’s intercourse or pregnancy. It follows an abnormal sexual act between the parents. To be more clear, anal sex,” he said.

The Greek Cypriot Orthodox prelate claimed Saint Porphyrios, who died in 1991, made the assertion in his writings. “[Saint Porphyrios] says that when the woman likes that, a desire is born, and then the desire is passed on to the child,” he said.

The bishop also stated gay men can be identified by their “particular odor,” The Guardian reported.

Hitting back at the clergyman, LGBT advocacy group, Accept Cyprus, jokingly asked on its Facebook page: “Lesbians, how are they created?”

“So, father, if the woman does oral, will the child become a dentist?” joked another social media user.

But others expressed concern at his comments.

“The problem is not this ignoramus, the tragic problem is that there are thousands who believe him,” said one user.

In the wake of his comments, Accept Cyprus wrote to Cyprus attorney-general Costas Clerides, stating that people had contacted them about experiencing suicidal thoughts after church officials had promoted so-called “conversion therapy.” And Clerides has asked police to investigate whether Masouras broke any hate speech laws.

Zacharias Theophanous, a software engineer planning to run for mayor of Nicosia in 2021, told The Guardian: “The church is very powerful in this country and its views often have a traumatizing effect on young people struggling to find their way.” He added that people are subjected to conversion therapies, which have no scientific basis and which have been described as the “outright abuse of children.”