A mayor in Peru made some interesting claims recently aboutthe quality of the water in his town. Huarmey Mayor Jose Benitez actuallybelieves that the number of gay men in his town is directly connected to thewater. He says that there is somethingtoxic in the water that is causing men to turn gay.
The mayor, noting high levels of Strontium in the tap water,says that the water comes from Tabalosos, a town where there are allegedly14,000 gay men.
“Unfortunatelystrontium reduces male hormones and suddenly we’ll be as Tabalosos, as othertowns, where the percentages are increasing of homosexuality,” Benitez says. “Young people have low self-esteem by thisstigma."
Dr. Robert Castro Rodriguez, dean of the College ofPharmaceutical Chemistry of Lima, says that Benitez is wrong. He says that strontium can lead to bonecancer, anemia and heart problems, but not homosexuality.
Bolivian President Evo Morales once blamed the injection offemale hormones into chickens for the presence of homosexuality. Morales then argued "and because of that,men who consume them have problems being men.”
