A Roman Catholic priest known for his
charismatic style has compared gay sex to cramming a bagel in your
ear.
According to the Detroit
Free Press, the Rev. John Riccardo of Our Lady of Good
Counsel Parish in Plymouth, Michigan described his analogy Wednesday
during a three-day national conference titled Welcoming and
Accompanying Our Brothers and Sisters with Same-Sex Attraction.
Despite its title,
the conference, which drew about 400 participants, struck an
unwelcoming tone, claiming gay sex is harmful and urging LGBT
parishioners to remain celibate.
Riccardo described
how he explains to teenagers the sinfulness of gay sex without being
too explicit.
“This is the
question which is asked by junior-high kids: Why does God hate gays?”
he rhetorically asked.
“Here's the image
that I use,” he said.
“[What if] I just
rip open a bagel, I take it, and I cram it in my ear. What would you
say?”
The teens usually
respond by saying that the bagel “doesn't go there.”
“I say,
'Exactly.' That will ruin your ear canal,” Riccardo said.
Another speaker,
Dr. Timothy Flanigan, lectured on the risks of gay sex, saying that
“anal sex is risky, dangerous … And oral sex also carries with it
its own risks as well,” seemingly unaware that such acts are also
carried out by opposite-sex couples.