Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

The Freethinker

Home
Nonreligious
Majority of Brits want to see ‘gay cure’ outfits banned

Majority of Brits want to see ‘gay cure’ outfits banned

Last updated on: July 17, 2020 at 11:04 am by Barry Duke

Majority of Brits want to see ‘gay cure’ outfits banned 2020-07-17T11:04:01+02:00 Barry Duke

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Image via YouTube/ITV

BAD news for quack ‘pray-away-the-gay’ organisations in the UK such as Core Issues Trust, headed by ‘ex-gay’ Mike Davidson above – a clear majority of the public says so-called gay ‘conversion therapy’ should be outlawed.

According to ITV News, even those of a religious bent indicated in a YouGov poll conducted on behalf of the Ozanne Foundation that they are not supportive of so-called gay “conversion therapy.”

The findings come as pressure mounts on the government to announce a ban next week after two years of delays. A petition calling for the banning of discredited “gay-to-straight” interventions has so far been signed by more than 224,000 people.

Sixty-two percent of those surveyed by YouGov say they support a ban. Only 14 percent said they do not, with the rest saying that they do not know. Those with a religious affiliation were only slightly less likely to want a ban, with 57 percent in favour, versus 15 percent who are not.

ITV News understands the Equalities Minister, Liz Truss, is still finalising plans for a ban, which have yet to be signed off by the cabinet.

In June, Truss told MPs:

Conversion therapy is a vile, abhorrent practice that we want to stop. We have commissioned research to look at the scope of the practice in the UK, and we will publish our plans shortly after we receive that research.

But Parliament breaks for its summer holiday next Wednesday, so there are concerns that a ban could be delayed beyond then.

This week, ITV News spoke to ‘Tom” (not his real name), who spent three years in group therapy sessions, trying to turn himself straight. Tom was first referred for conversion therapy by Northern Ireland based Davidson, who runs the Core Issues Trust.

When ITV News met Davidson to show him the interview with “Tom”, he looked distinctly uncomfortable, and said:

He was sent to somebody who is registered as a qualified psychiatrist. You cannot ban people’s human right to plan the trajectory they want to go in.

“Tom” said of his brush with conversion therapy:

We were made to feel that we would all achieve what we were looking for, which was to eventually marry a woman and have a family.

Instead, “Tom” said he was left feeling suicidal.

There were definitely times that I felt I didn’t really want to go on. There were times where I felt there was no real hope.

Eventually he quit the group and has now embraced his sexuality.

Davidson insisted:

People should be free, and we should give them the right and freedom to go in the direction they they want to. Banning just simply won’t work… That’s not what democracy is, and that’s not what scientific debate is.

What are they going to do? Are they going to ban conversations between people?

Over the past two years, ITV News has uncovered the many forms of conversion therapy still taking place in Britain.

At Winner’s Chapel in Dartford, an ITV undercover reporter was told that his homosexuality was caused by the devil and was offered intensive prayer, while the Christian organisation Journey UK provided textbooks to another of its undercover reporters, saying that homosexuality was a “neurosis”.

Several pastors at the Winners’ Chapel made clear they could help stop him being gay.

Image via YouTube

Meanwhile it’s reported from the US that an Orthodox Jewish psychotherapist who offers conversion therapy, Dr Dovid Schwartz, above, has won a legal battle to continue the practice.

What’s more, New York City agreed to pay the psychotherapist $100,000 in attorney’s fees and damages for:

Violating his freedom of speech and infringing on his religious faith and that of his patients.

The outfit that represented him, Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) said in a Tuesday statement:

In the face of the lawsuit, the city backtracked on its previous legislation and, last September, voted to repeal the counseling ban. In light of the repeal and this settlement, Schwartz and his attorneys are dismissing their lawsuit in Schwartz v City of New York.

Said ADF Senior Counsel Roger Brooks:

All New Yorkers and all Americans deserve the right to private conversations, free from government control. New York City directly violated our client’s freedom of speech by trying to regulate and censor private sessions between an adult and his therapist.

While the city eventually saw the writing on the wall and reversed course, it needlessly cost the taxpayers of New York tens of thousands of dollars for enacting its unconstitutional policy in the first place, because Dr Schwartz was forced to go to court to protect his rights. Other cities should not repeat the same error. We’re grateful that New York City is no longer threatening to censor Dr Schwartz’s conversations and impose government-approved orthodoxy on him or his patients.

In 2018, the city council adopted a law making it illegal for any person to provide services for a fee that:

Seek to change a person’s sexual orientation or seek to change a person’s gender identity to conform to the sex of such individual that was recorded at birth.

ADF said:

Notably, the law only prohibited counsel in one direction – assisting a patient who desires to reduce same-sex attraction or achieve comfort with their biological sex. The law threatened fines of up to $10,000 for first, second, and subsequent violations. By contrast, counseling that steers a patient towards a gender identity different than his or her physical body was permitted.

Over the course of his over 50 years of general practice, Schwartz has regularly encountered and served patients who want his help overcoming same-sex attraction. Because of their religious beliefs and personal life goals, clients who seek his counsel often desire to experience opposite-sex attraction so they can marry, form a natural family, and live consistently with their Orthodox Jewish faith.

A number of patients have pursued and achieved those goals with the aid of his psychotherapeutic services. Schwartz uses no techniques in working with his patients other than listening and talking – yet the 2018 law claimed to forbid even that.

• If you’d like to buy me a cup of coffee – and boy, do I get through a LOT of coffee keeping this site active – please click the link below.

I’d love a cup of coffee

Previous Post

July 16, 2020

Six months' prison for blogger who parodied koranic verse

Next Post

July 17, 2020 Eeek, naked bodies on Twitter! Vatican archbishop blasted.

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Archive My Atheism News Opinion Reviews Uncategorized

Select a Month December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 June 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 February 2010 January 2010 December 2009 November 2009 October 2009 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 March 2009 February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 September 2008 August 2008 July 2008 June 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007 October 2007 September 2007 August 2007 July 2007 March 2007 April 2006 February 2006

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

Who is the "friend at midnight" in one of Jesus' parables?

Select your answer to see how you score.

A soldier An angel A neighbor seeking bread A fisherman

Books by This Author Books by The Freethinker

See All Titles »