A British-based evangelical Christian has caused a storm of protest by suggesting Olympic diver Tom Daley is gay because his father died.
Andrea Minichiello Williams, founder of Christian Concern, is said to have used Daley as an example of how 'the lack of a father' can lead to homosexual feelings.
Speaking to Christian conservatives in Jamaica, Mrs Williams reportedly said it was a 'big lie' that homosexuality was natural and inborn.
According to the news website Buzzfeed, she also warned that Britain's decision to repeal its sodomy laws had led to more permissive laws around the age of consent.
Urging Jamaicans to uphold its laws against same-sex intercourse, she said: "Once you strip away all this stuff, what you get is no age consent ... nobody ever enforces that law anymore."
Daley, 19, who revealed he is in a gay relationship by releasing a Youtube video, has so far not responded to the remarks.
Martin Warner, the Bishop of Chichester, where Mrs Williams was elected to the General Synod in 2011, condemned the comments.
He told the Independent that they had 'no sanction in the Church of England' and that they 'should be rejected as offensive and unacceptable'.
The gay rights charity Stonewall said it was 'sad' that Mrs Williams is 'supporting the prosecution of gay people simply for how they were born'.
Dr Keith Sharpe, vice chair of Changing Attitudes, an Anglican body calling for full equality for LGB&T people, said that her 'bigoted outburst amount to dangerous hatemongering'.