A Roman Catholic priest in Spain has been separated from his parish after a shirtless photo of him with a 28-year-old seminary student from Cuba has fueled rumors he is gay, according to The Huffington Post.

Andres Garcia Torres, 46, asserts he is heterosexual and is willing to prove it by having church officials measure his anus to verify whether it is dilated.

Although this video from Antena3 is in Spanish, you can get the gist. The woman crying is the mother of the priest. The other people are parishioners who support him.

Más vídeos en Antena3


To add the finishing touch to these sordid details, El Pais reports that church officials have ordered Torres to get an HIV test and get psychiatric treatment.

The ignorance and intolerance from the church and from the priest himself is deep. That said, church officials are within their rights to punish Torres for his alleged homosexuality.

Ordering the priest to get an HIV test reeks of AIDS stigma. When will people cease to automatically equate being gay with being HIV positive?