Gay men should be forced to have 'health warning' tattoos, says Stock Exchange chaplain



Offensive: The Rev Peter Mullen faces a possible disciplinary hearing for the remarks on his blog, which have been condemned by the Bishop of London

A leading clergyman is facing calls for his resignation after a series of outspoken remarks about gay men.



The Rev Peter Mullen, chaplain to the London Stock Exchange, called for homosexuals to be tattooed with warnings about the perils of gay sex in a cigarette-packet-style health warning.



Mr Mullen, 66, has insisted it had all been a joke and he had nothing against gay men.



But he was forced to remove the comments from his internet blog, and the Bishop of London described them as 'highly offensive'.



In the blog, Mr Mullen wrote: 'Let us make it obligatory for homosexuals to have their backsides tattooed with the slogan SODOMY CAN SERIOUSLY DAMAGE YOUR HEALTH.



'In addition, the obscene 'gay pride' parades and carnivals should be banned for they give rise to passive corruption, comparable to passive smoking. Young people forced to witness these excrescences are corrupted by them.'



Mr Mullen, who is rector of St Michael's Cornhill and St Sepulchre without Newgate in the City of London and writes a regular column for a regional newspaper, said sex education films should be shown in schools, highlighting sodomy as a 'filthy practice'.



The films should end, he said, with the admonition: 'We do after all, know the importance of washing our hands after going to the lavatory.'



The remarks were posted in June, a day before another posting in which he condemned the blessing of two gay priests. Peter Cowell and David Lord became the first homosexuals to be blessed in an Anglican service - by the Rev Martin Dudley - with a traditional marriage liturgy in which they exchanged vows and rings.



The service infuriated many senior figures in the Church of England and reignited the row over gay clergy which threatens to tear apart the worldwide Anglican Communion.



It also prompted an extraordinary poem by Mr Mullen, beginning: 'The Bishop of London is in a high huff.



'Because Dr Dudley has married a puff;

'And not just one puff - he's married another:



'Two priests, two puffs and either to other.'



The Bishop of London, the Rt Rev Richard Chartres, issued a public rebuke to Mr Mullen, who was ordained in 1970 and has been in the historic Stock Exchange post since 1998.



A spokesman said: 'While clergy are entitled to their own personal views, we recognise that the content of this text is highly offensive and is in no way reflective of the views of the Diocese of London.'



Gay rights campaigner Peter Tatchell accused Mr Mullen of 'quite outrageous homophobia'.



He said: 'As a chaplain, Rev Mullen ought to be a spiritual guide to all employees of the Stock Exchange.



'He should resign or be sacked. If he was mocking black or Jewish people in a similar vein, the Stock Exchange would instantly remove him and the Church would relieve him of his duties.



'He is not even fit to be a parish priest.' A spokesman for the Stock Exchange said the clergyman had no formal role and that it was merely a historical 'legacy title'.



Mr Mullen insisted his remarks had been in jest.



'I wrote some satirical things on my blog and anybody with an ounce of sense of humour or any understanding of the tradition of English satire would immediately assume that they're light-hearted jokes,' he said.



'I certainly have nothing against homosexuals. Many of my dear friends have been and are of that persuasion.



'What I have got against them is the militant preaching of homosexuality.'

