Iranian Cleric Claims COVID Vaccines 'Turn Straight People Into Gays!'

Opposing vaccines have been a relatively popular belief for as long as vaccinations existed. Yet, with the Coronavirus pandemic and the dire need for humanity to find a long-term way to protect itself from the virus and its dangers, the conversation over vaccines continues to get even more challenging.

Translation: "The Iranian religious figure Abbas Tabrizian thinks that COVID vaccines prompt homosexuality, as he claimed that "those who receive it will turn gay." Known as "the father of Islamic medicine" clarified via his Telegram channel that those who have already taken the vaccine are now homosexual." 

Several reports have cited an Iranian religious figure, known for his controversial medical statements, warn of the dangers posed by the COVID-19 vaccines. According to a message broadcast by Abbas Tabrizian via Telegram, "COVID-19 vaccines can change the genetic composition in humans who receive it, with the possibility of turning heterosexual people into homosexuals."

Tabrizian's statements have been widely shared online as they further split the public opinion over vaccines in Iran and elsewhere.

Many social media users attacked Tabrizian's statements calling on him and other religious clerics to stop providing the public with directives on medical issues; saying that "only medical experts should be discussing such matters." In recent years, Tabrizian had prompted similar attempts as he continuously attacked science and burned medical textbooks on camera.

Last July, Tabrizian ignited a similar online backlash when he claimed that "men can't transmit the Coronavirus, and that only women are required to wear face masks to protect others from the virus."

However, Tabrizian's is not the first religious speaker to warn of vaccines by warning of their alleged ability to change people's sexual orientation. Last month, the Israeli Orthodox Rabbi Daniel Asor sparked an online backlash after claiming that vaccines "turn people gay" as he called on his followers to refuse to take it. Asor had claimed that vaccines are part of a conspiracy by a “global malicious government“ that is attempting to “establish a new world order.”

According to the World Health Organization, the number of vaccinations distributed and administered around the world has just exceeded the number of people who have contracted the Coronavirus worldwide. Yet, warnings are mounting that vaccines are being increasingly hoarded by the world's richest countries with very little left for the poorer nations.