London, Nov. 10 (CWNews.com) - An Anglican bishop who suggested that gay people could "reorientate" themselves with psychiatric help is to be questioned by the police.
Bishop Peter Forster of Chester Diocese said in a local newspaper article last week that "some people who are primarily homosexual can reorientate themselves."
He continued, "I would encourage them to consider that as an option, but I would not set myself up as a medical specialist-- that's in the area of psychiatric health."
The Cheshire police department has received a formal complaint about the bishop and has confirmed that they will now question him.
A police spokesman told the Daily Mail, "We will speak to the bishop and then we will send the results of our investigation to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS)."
Forster had said that, while he believed in tolerance toward gay people, he believed they should remain celibate, even within relationships. He also said that sexual activity should be bound up with marriage and raising children.
He added, "All the sociological evidence is that children fare better when raised in a traditional home by a man and a woman who have committed themselves to life-long marriage."
The CPS has prioritized tackling "hate crime" against homosexuals, claiming that 40 percent of gay men and women have suffered at least one incident in the past year.
It is possible that the CPS could prosecute Forster under the 1986 Public Order Act which prohibits language considered to be abusive to sexual groups.
