You can’t ‘turn’ a child gay

Mr A Dinou in his response to my reply to his letter regarding  parenting by same sex couples (Sunday Mail, January 9) rather lets the cat out of the bag when he cites his objections due to “religious reasons”.

Are these the same religious reasons that allow the Taliban to gas girls in their schools, that endorse the execution of “blasphemers” in Pakistan or forbids the use of condoms in Africa condemning thousands of heterosexuals to death from AIDS?

I was surprised that he cited Elton John and his partner for his objections. There may well be misgivings, as the Cyprus Mail’s own correspondent, Lauren O’Hara, pointed out a couple of weeks ago regarding his age and the intrusion into the boy’s  life due to Elton’s extreme wealth and fame, but what has his sex got to do with it?

Obviously nearly all gay people are born to straight couples and you can no more “turn” a child gay any more than you can make me like sprouts or Barry Manilow.

Of course A Dinou has the right to “freely disagree” with any law he chooses to but thank God these laws are the result of mainly free thinking men and women in a democratic system and not the result of picking and choosing what may or may not have been said some 2000 years ago. Perhaps I’m an infidel, Oh well.

Robert G Brew, Protaras

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.