The Glasgow gallery at the centre of a Bible vandalism row is now set to host a police drive to recruit gay officers.
Strathclyde Police has rented space in the Gallery of Modern Art to host its gay jobs fair, a month after a gay art exhibition encouraged people to deface a Bible.
A Roman Catholic Church spokesman expressed dismay at the development.
He said: “Many people will be puzzled that the police are targeting so specifically one section of the community.
“A person’s sexuality should not affect their suitability for police service, so it seems a little bizarre that such a special effort is being made to recruit homosexual people.”
“Are similarly targeted approaches being made to other minorities such as Catholics, Jews or people of Polish extraction – or left handed people?”
The police force will be joined at the fair by members from the Gay Police Association and the National Trans Police Association.
Constable Susan Phee, from Strathclyde Police diversity department, said: “The idea behind this recruitment and information day is to inform anyone from the LGBT communities about what opportunities are available within the police, to encourage them to find out what roles are most suited to them and to potentially join us.
“Officers and staff from the other organisations will be available for one-to-one chats and will answer questions and allay any fears or reservations people might have about joining the police.”
Last month, obscene and offensive messages were scrawled over a Bible at a gay exhibition in the same gallery.
The Bible was displayed with pens next to it and a notice reading: “Are there any gay people in the Bible? Out of the tens of thousands of people who appear in the Old and New Testaments, there must have been.
“Same-sex love, such as that between Ruth and Naomi, existed, but has been written out over time.”
Visitors were asked: “If you feel you’ve been excluded from the Bible, please write your way back into it.”
A number of crude comments and angry remarks expressing hatred for the Bible’s teaching were then left, eventually prompting organisers to move the Bible into a glass cabinet.
In July Strathclyde Police praised organisers of another gay exhibition at the gallery which featured pornographic images for helping to promote respect for homosexuals.
Police diversity officers said the show was doing them a favour by raising awareness of gay issues.
Scottish police forces now employ 21 diversity workers, at a cost of £620,059 a year.
Earlier this month it was reported that a play portraying Jesus as a transsexual will run in a Glasgow Theatre.
The production is due to run in November at the Tron Theatre as part of Glasgay, an annual publicly-funded gay arts festival.
The Christian Institute’s Simon Calvert said: “If Glasgow’s council taxpayers were consulted, I doubt they would consider this was a good use of their money.
“What with this and the Bible defacing exhibit, you have to wonder what is the next outrage Glasgow City Council has planned.”