Prisoners leave the cell where they knit creations for Brazilian fashion designer Raquell Guimaraes in the Arisvaldo de Campos Pires maximum security penitentiary in Juiz de Fora, about 100 miles (160 km) north of Rio de Janeiro, May 29, 2013. When Guimar
Prisoners leave the cell where they knit creations for Brazilian fashion designer Raquell Guimaraes in the Arisvaldo de Campos Pires maximum security penitentiary in Juiz de Fora, about 100 miles (160 km) north of Rio de Janeiro, May 29, 2013. When Guimaraes had trouble finding knitters for her Doiselles brand of high fashion a few years ago, she found the perfect solution in one of the highest security prisons in the country. She trained 18 prisoners sentenced for crimes ranging from armed robbery to murder, to knit the highest quality in exchange for pay and reduced sentences. Picture taken May 29, 2013. Reuters

Retired neurosurgeon and conservative activist Ben Carson, who is a likely presidential candidate, has just issued an opinion on gays that would likely turn off a lot of votes from the LGBT communities.

He said in an interview that being gay is a choice. Carson explains, “Because a lot of people who go into prison straight, and when they come out they’re gay,” quotes CNN in an interview with Chris Cuomo that aired on Wednesday on “New Day.” He add, “So, did something happen while they were in there? Ask yourself that question.”

His position goes against the stand of the majority of the medical community, including the American Psychological Association, which says that “most people experience little or no sense of choice about their sexual orientation.”

Carson is not new to making inflammatory remarks on controversial issues that divide the nation. In the past, he has said that Obamacare is the worst thing to happen to the United States since slavery and compared the IRS targeting scandal to the Gestapo during the time that Germany was under the Nazi rule.

For him, same-sex unions are not different from pedophilia and bestiality – acts that allegedly undermine society. He believes the issue of gay marriages should be decided at the state level, not at the national level.

Carson actually does not oppose two people acquiring rights as a couple such as property rights and visitation rights but without changing the definition of marriage

While such stands earned him a following among conservatives, some members of the GOP doubt if he could be considered a serious candidate for a national position.

However, Carson has formed a committee to explore the possibility of running for president in 2016. He is the first Republican to take that step. Having an exploratory committee would allow him to raise funds for a campaign for the White House.

In response to his statement on gay, most netizens disagree based on their post in CBS which ran a story on Carson.

@goldenrod30 called him a “true nutjob.” @Wingfan1983 asked: “Where does the GOP come up with these idiots? How can this idiot use this as scientific prof?”

@Benjamindover666 pointed out that some prisoners come out as Christians.

@Mtcolquitt suggested “that Mr Carson spend some time in jail and see if it turns out that way for him.”

For @Omnibus66, Carson is “a retired neurosurgeon who evidently did a little too much scalpel work on his own gray matter.”

To contact the writer, email: v.hernandez@ibtimes.co.au