Cleric brands Harry Potter 'gay'

A cleric and best-selling children's author has been thrown out of a school after making homophobic comments about young wizard Harry Potter.

Reverend Graham Taylor, author of 'Shadowmancer', a book similar in theme to that of J.K. Rowling's teen wizard, was gracing children of the age of 12 with a talk at Penair School, Truro.

However, teachers cut short Taylor's speech on grounds of homophobia when he began to make wild speculations about the sexual orientation of some of Rowling's characters.

"As for Harry Potter, well, he's not the only gay in the village," the vicar informed the children. He then went on to brand the villains in Rowling's books "wimps" before announcing that TV is "crap" compared to books.

Reuters quote the school as saying: "We were very disappointed to have to curtail a visit from Mr Taylor."

Meanwhile, the ejected cleric has complained: "It was a joke; a joke from Little Britain that the children would know. I didn't set out to offend. I'm a priest and I'm very careful about not offending people."