A Greek bishop who claimed that a
mother will have a gay child if she enjoys anal sex during her
pregnancy has been cleared of hate crime charges.
Church of Cyprus Bishop Neophytos
Masouras made his comments during a recent speech given at a primary
school in Akaki, Cyprus as part of a series of “spiritual meetings
of dialogue.”
He said that the enjoyment the mother
experiences is transferred to the fetus, resulting in a child who is
gay.
“It happens during the parent's
intercourse or pregnancy,” Masouras said. “It follows an abnormal
sexual act between the parents. To be more clear, anal sex. Saint
Porphyrios says that when the woman likes that, a desire is born, and
then the desire is passed on to the child.”
A hate speech complaint was filed
against Masouras by the group Accept LGBTI Cyprus.
In a statement, Attorney General Costas
Clerides cleared Masouras of the charges.
“Although the Bishop’s individual
references are worthy of criticism and possibly disagreement, the
whole context of his statements and the explanations he gave on the
actual meaning of words and phrases, which he used to refer to the
positions of the Church,” Clerides
wrote. “They do not equate with an attempt to incite violence
or hatred because of sexual orientation or gender identity, nor can
they be described as hate speech within the meaning of the law.”