…always make a good interview, I suppose.

Belgian cardinal makes his case

A Belgian cardinal has been quoted as saying only five to 10 percent of lesbians and gays are actually gay and the rest are “sexual perverts”.

“I am willing to write in my own blood that of all those who call themselves lesbian or gay, a maximum of five to 10 percent are effectively lesbian or gay,” Cardinal Gustaaf Joos, 80, told the Belgian weekly P-Magazine on Wednesday.

“All the rest are just sexual perverts,” Joos added.

“I demand you write that down,” said Joos, who was made a cardinal by Pope John Paul late last year. “I don’t care if they all come protesting at my door. I won’t open the door.”

The country as a whole, whose population of 10 million is predominantly Roman Catholic, legalised gay marriages last year and is now moving closer to granting same-sex couples the right to adopt children.

“Real homosexuals don’t wander in the streets in colourful suits. Those are people who have a serious problem and have to live with that. And if they make a mistake they will be forgiven. We have to help these people and not judge them,” Joos added.

Do you see what he’s saying? He’s saying that only a small proportion of self-identified gay people are actually homosexual, and that the rest are people who are comparable to fetishists, etc. If we can get past the headline and the inevitable spin, we might have a point to discuss, a point that’s been argued in some quarters before.