But the would-be politician and consultant psychologist stopped short of condoning violence against gays, saying that nobody had the right to engage in “poofter bashing”.

Mr Pocock made his remarks in a response to a questionnaire sent by the church to candidates and parties contesting the election.

In the section canvassing the politicians’ positions in the marriage debate, Mr Pocock declared that “a true ‘union’ only occurs in heterosexual vaginal intercourse and homosexual unions not only deserve no special rights but must be seen as the destructive behaviours that should be actively discouraged.”

“I believe sodomy of man or woman should be regarded as a criminal offence and while people do not have the right to go ‘poofter bashing’, to use colloquial language, they should have the right to discriminate in terms of employment, accommodation etc as they do in dealing with drug addicts etc,” Mr Pocock wrote.

The candidate said that sexuality should not be left to individuals but regulated by the state and that many politicians were inadequate for the job or they themselves were indulging themselves sexually.