Church of Cyprus bishop Neophytos Masouras of Morphou has been condemned and ridiculed on social media for saying that gay people exist because pregnant women have anal sex and enjoy it.
In statements made at a primary school in Akaki, Nicosia, he made comments that have caused a great deal of controversy. He said that homosexuality is caused by anal sex. “It follows an abnormal sexual act between the parents. To be more clear, anal sex,” he said. “‘[Saint Porphyrios] says that when the woman likes that, a desire is born, and then the desire is passed on to the child.'”
The comments were made during a series of talks, titled “Spiritual Meetings of Dialogue” and are not backed by scientific evidence, however the bishop said that Saint Porphyrios had written about how parents’ sexuality affected the sexual choices of their offspring. Saint Porphyrios died in 1991, and had told homosexual people to stay single and pray for their sexual urges to go away.
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Homosexuality was decriminalised in Cyprus in 1998, discrimination against gay people was outlawed in 2004 and same-sex partnership unions became legal on the island in 2015. Homosexual people are not allowed to serve in the Cyprus army and adoption is not offered to same-sex couples.
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