More gay drama in Latvia. With just four weeks until the small nation's gay pride – an event the government once banned – Catholic Cardinal Jānis Pujāts wants his queer countrymen to know exactly what he thinks of them: they're prostitutes.

Imploring the government to curb the forthcoming celebration, Pujāts (pictured, looking grainy) likened homosexuality to a total corruption in the sexual arena” and went on to call it an "unnatural form of prostitution". In a letter to Rītdiena, Pujāts, who stands as Latvia's highest ranking Catholic, claimed that gay pride's just a clever way to spread "sexual corruption".

They are demanding not just tolerance, but also that sexual corruption be protected by law and popularized on the basis of special programs in schools and other organized events.

There would be no opportunity to object against legal events, because that would be seen as a manifestation of hatred. That’s how corruption grows into dictatorship.

The prideful march will only grow, seeping into people's homes, churches and schools, thus ensuring the entire nation gets swallowed into hell. But, Pujāts claims, if the government were to stop the march, the gays would be powerless: "[They] will not survive without their slogans or provocative activities…" Thus Pujāts urges the government to tuck the festivities into a corner. They can't ban it all together, but they can ensure the "sexually crazed" have no contact with Latvia's more righteous citizens. That should hold those gays until Pujāts can think of a final solution, which we're sure he's already considered…

Catholic Cardinal Calls Gays ‘Prostitutes’ in Latvian Outburst [UK Gay News]