GALHA Media Release, 7 June 2006

VATICAN ATTACKS AGAINST GAYS "REMINISCENT OF WORST DICTATORS

The Vatican's relentless and defamatory attacks on the rights of gay people are beginning to sound like the kind of propaganda used by the worst dictators, says the Gay and Lesbian Humanist Association.

The latest Vatican document, published this week, says the acceptance of gay partnerships is "an eclipse of God". In previous documents the Vatican has said that gay people are "intrinsically evil", "morally disordered" and a threat to civilisation.

Terry Sanderson, a spokesman for GALHA, said: "The Vatican is playing a very dangerous game with these relentless attacks on gay people. The language being used is dehumanising, and the demands for the wholesale removal of civil rights from an identifiable group is reminiscent of some malignant dictatorship. The Pope's constant vilification of gay people is leading to violence and persecution. We have only to look at what is happening in Catholic Poland, where gay people are publicly insulted and humiliated by senior government ministers. In other Eastern European countries where Catholicism is strong, there is evidence that the gay communities are being targeted by populist politicians. If Benedict isn't careful, his reckless statements will result in innocent blood being spilled."

Mr Sanderson suggested that in non-Catholic countries the Pope's utterances were regarded as either repellent or irrelevant. "The Catholic Church is losing adherents all over the world, and this is because of its increasing authoritarianism and intolerance".