Gay People Should Be Tattooed Says Church Of England Clergyman

The writer of a blog has got himself into hot water this week when his comments about gay people were deemed to be highly offensive. The writer of that blog was a clergyman of the Church of England

Back peddling may be an understatement here as the blog's author, the Rev Peter Mullen, claimed that the comments he had made were supposed to be "satirical". He also claimed that he had many friends who happened to be gay. Yet in the same breath, he strongly criticized two fellow priests who got married recently. A two sided view? From a clergyman, one has to be of the faith and surely not to punish and discriminate their fellow man. After all, we are all entitled to an opinion, a lifestyle of our choosing and our right to speak, but so long as our feelings never hurt. We must not insult those we walk along side, so surely these must be the unspoken rules of our truest Christians, right? The comments in the blog, posed serious insult, in particular such lines as "Sodomy can seriously damage your health" which he said should be tattooed on the bottoms of gay people, offended many readers, including UK leading gay rights group, Outrage. A spokesperson called the comments "Neanderthal". However, to the Reverend's defence, a spokeswoman from the Diocese of London where the clergyman is based said that is remarks were a far cry from his personal views. A joke or not, the remarks where unforgiving. She told press, "While clergy are entitled to their own personal views, we fully recognise that the content of this text is highly offensive and it is in no way reflective of the views of the Diocese of London." Speaking up for his much publicised blog since the claims, Mr Mullen said, "I certainly have nothing against homosexuals. Many of my dear friends have been and are of that persuasion...." He went on, "What I have got against them is the militant preaching of homosexuality." At the same time, he wrote in his infamous blog that all gay pride parades of which there are many in the UK should be "outlawed" and banned. He even called them "obscene." He has since been asked to remove these comments by Church officials. Speaking on behalf of gay rights movement, Outrage, "It's the kind of remark you might expect from a drunk on a Saturday night, not someone in a supposedly responsible position."