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Cypriot bishop faces inquiry over homophobic remarks
塞浦路斯主教因其恐同言论而面临调查
来源：《卫报》 翻译：世界播
Police in Cyprus have opened an investigation into homophobic remarks made by a controversial bishop.
塞浦路斯警方对一名有争议的主教发表的恐同言论展开调查。
At the request of the island’s attorney general, investigators will examine whether the Greek Cypriot Orthodox prelate, Neophytos, violated hate speech laws after he claimed that homosexuality could be passed on when pregnant women had anal sex.
应这个岛国司法部长的要求，调查人员将调查这位希族塞人东正教教士奥菲托斯是否违反了仇恨言论法，此前他曾声称，当怀孕妇女发生肛交行为时，可能会传播同性恋。
“It is, they say, a problem that is usually transferred to the child from the parents,” the bishop of Morphou said in one of a series of talks billed as “spiritual meetings of dialogue”. “And, they say, it happens … when the parents [indulge] in erotic acts that are unnatural.”
“他们说，这是一个通常从父母那里遗传至孩子身上的问题”，这位莫尔富的主教在一系列被称为“精神对话会议”的其中一场谈话中说道：“他们说，当父母沉迷于不自然的情爱行为时，这种情况就会发生。”
Relating the story of a saint and a “beautiful young boy”, he said gay men were instantly recognisable because they gave off a “particular odour”.
在讲述一个圣人和一个“漂亮的小男孩”的故事时，他说男同性恋者一眼就能被认出来，因为他们散发出一种“特殊的气味”。
The government denounced the comments as “insulting the dignity and equality of Cypriots.” Campaigners with Accept LGBTI, a gay rights group, called for Neophytos to face disciplinary action.
政府谴责这些言论“侮辱了塞浦路斯人的尊严和平等”。同性恋权益组织Accept LGBTI的活动人士呼吁奥菲托斯必须要接受惩戒处罚。
“We want to see him recant and we want to see him defrocked,” said Zacharias Theophanous, a software engineer who has said he will run for Nicosia mayor in 2021. “The church is very powerful in this country and its views often have a traumatising effect on young people struggling to find their way.”
一位准备在2021年竞选尼科西亚市长、名叫扎卡里亚斯西奥帕努斯的软件工程师表示：“我们希望看到他改变立场，我们希望看到他被免去圣职。教会在这个国家非常强大，它所宣扬的观点往往会对努力寻找出路的年轻人造成创伤。”
In a letter to the attorney general, Costas Clerides, the group said the bishop’s remarks had prompted numerous people to come forward with testimonies about church officials promoting “conversion therapy” that for some had provoked suicidal thoughts.
同性恋权益组织在致总检察长科斯塔斯克莱里德斯的一封信中表示，主教的言论促使许多人站出来作证，称教会官员在推动“性倾向转变疗法”，这对一些人来说，引发了自杀的念头。
“We hear all the time of people being subjected to conversion therapies in villages and cities,” Theophanous told the Guardian. “There are priests who will tell gay men they can be straight if, for example, they undergo hormone therapy or take Viagra or pray enough.”
西奥帕努斯告诉《卫报》：“我们一直有听闻某些乡村和城市会劝诫那些人接受‘性倾向转变疗法’。有些神职人员甚至会告诉男同性恋者，如果他们接受激素治疗、服用伟哥或做足够多的祈祷，他们就可以变回异性恋。”
Clerides has received similar complaints in the past although this is the first time he has gone so far as to order a police inquiry. Instances of homophobic hate speech by senior clergymen were reported in 2016 and 2017 but no action was taken.
克莱里德斯过去也收到过类似的投诉，不过这是他第一次下令警方进行调查。2016年和2017年，有报道称高级神职人员发表了恐同仇恨言论，但没有采取任何行动。
Cyprus was among the last EU member states to decriminalise homosexuality, doing so in 1998 under pressure from Brussels as it prepared to join the bloc. In the four years since legislation came into force outlawing hate speech, there have been no legal proceedings in response to homophobic and transphobic comments.
塞浦路斯是最后一批将同性恋合法化的欧盟成员国之一。1998年，塞浦路斯在准备加入欧盟时迫于布鲁塞尔的压力，将同性恋合法化。自立法将仇恨言论定为非法以来的四年里，还没有针对恐同和跨性别言论的法律诉讼。
Costas Gavrielides, who advises the president, Nicos Anastasiades, on issues of acceptance and diversity, said the bishop’s remarks had no scientific basis that fostered homophobic hatred “while insulting the parents of gay people and especially targeting their mothers”.
为该国总统尼科斯阿纳斯塔夏季斯在接受度和多样性问题方面提供咨询的科斯塔斯加夫里利德斯表示，主教的言论毫无科学依据，而且还助长了对同性恋的仇恨，“同时侮辱了同性恋者的父母，尤其是他们的母亲”。
Despite the innate social conservatism of Cypriot society, attitudes toward homosexuality have changed significantly in recent years, according to opinion polls.
民意调查显示，尽管塞浦路斯社会存在固有的社会保守主义，但近年来人们对同性恋的态度发生了显著变化。 |
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