A Cypriot bishop who claimed that gay people are created in the womb if a man performs anal sex on a straight pregnant woman and she enjoys it is under investigation by Cyprus police for hate speech.

The Most Reverend Metropolitan Neophytos of Morfou of the Church of Cyprus made the remarks in a speech to a group of people in Akaki. His remarks were confirmed by the Cypriot LGBTQ rights group Accept.

Said the bishop: “Homosexuality is usually a problem transferred to a fetus, when a pregnant woman has anal sex and enjoys it. It happens during the parent’s intercourse or pregnancy. It follows an abnormal sexual act between the parents. To be more clear, anal sex.”

The bishop claimed that when the woman enjoys anal sex, “a desire is created, which is then transmitted to the unborn child.”

The bishop later defended his statements after they went viral: “I expressed the position of the Church and the position of the saints.”

In a later portion of the bishop’s speech which was released, he said gay people have “a specific stink” which prayers can make go away.

France24 reports: ‘In a statement issued on Thursday, Attorney General Costas Clerides said he had instructed the island’s police chief to “investigate the possibility of any criminal offence committed” in connection with statements made by the bishop about “homosexuals and related matters”. The move follows a statement from the government saying it was “greatly troubled and dismayed” by the bishop’s comments, which it said were needlessly stirring up social unrest. Government spokesman Prodromos Prodromou said Tuesday that the bishop’s remarks “insult the dignity and equality” of Cypriots, and called on him to retract them.
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