Posted on 01/17/2011 9:16:31 AM PST by scottjewell
UK Conservative party leader David Cameron has been urged to condemn "breathtaking" comments about gay people by Tory MEP Roger Helmer.
On Sunday, Helmer tweeted: "Why is it OK for a surgeon to perform a sex-change operation, but not OK for a psychiatrist to try to 'turn' a consenting homosexual?"
He was responding to an article at the weekend in the Sunday Telegraph newspaper about how a British psychotherapist who tried to "convert" a gay man to become heterosexual now faces being struck off.
Lesley Pilkington, 60, a psychotherapist for 20 years, faces being stripped of her accreditation to the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP) after treating a patient who had told her he wanted to be "cured" of his homosexuality.
The patient was in fact a prominent homosexual rights campaigner and journalist, who secretly recorded two sessions with Pilkington before reporting her to the BACP.
She faces a disciplinary hearing later this week.
Many users of the social networking site Twitter have reacted angrily, with a "sackhelmer" hash tag beginning to be used by campaigners.
Other UK MEPs have also castigated Helmer and insisted that Cameron condemn the comments "or risk associating his party with highly offensive homophobic views".
Labour's leader in the European parliament, Glenis Willmott also called on Cameron to distance his party from the statement.
She said, "The Conservative party chose Helmer as a political candidate. If Cameron says nothing then he will be confirming the fact that he still leads the nasty party.
"We need to hear from the prime minister whether he considers these statements to be appropriate for someone elected on a Conservative party platform."
Fellow S&D deputy Michael Cashman, who chairs a parliamentary group dealing with gay rights, added, "Helmer's ignorance is breathtaking. He fails to understand the distinct issues of gender identity and sexual preference.
"Homosexuality is not something that needs 'curing' unless you want to escape the awful persecuting environment which is created by statements like Helmer's.
"Cameron made much of his 'apology' for the Tory party's discrimination of gay people through section 28 and he claims that his party has changed.
"If he is sincere, he must take action against Helmer. If he does nothing, he will be condoning Helmer's view and proving that the Tories are still the nasty party without the guts to stand up for minorities."
Section 28 was an amendment to the UK's local government act 1986, stating that a local authority "shall not intentionally promote homosexuality or publish material with the intention of promoting homosexuality".
On Monday, Helmer, however, resolutely stood by his comments and told this website they were "perfectly legitimate".
Referring to his tweet, he said, "I am told that this is now all over the internet but it was a reasonable question, modestly asked."
He said, "I never cease to be amazed by the instant indignation and intolerance of this strident lobby group."
He laughed off demands that he should face disciplinary action, "I take these things with a pinch of salt."
Helmer is no stranger to controversy. In July 2009 he reportedly claimed that homophobia does not exist, saying: "In psychiatry, a phobia is defined as an irrational fear. I have yet to meet anyone who has an irrational fear of homosexuals, or of homosexuality."
According to his critics, he has also consistently voted against equality legislation in parliament and has voted against a number of resolutions which condemned homophobic violence.
Homophobic????
that word is a misnomer right off the bat.
I know no one who are ‘afraid’ of gays.
I know people who find gays repulsive, or disgusting but I do not know people who are scared of gays....
So.... why did the "patient" approach the doctor and ask for treatment?
er...There's nothing off-beat, or 'hateful', about that observation. Homosexuality was rightfully considered a mental illness by the American Psychiatric Board until the late 1960s. It was removed from the list of mental illnesses because of political pressure, and caterwauling - not based on any new discoveries.
The fact, though, is that if one is trapped in the grips of sin - one should plead for the cure and healing from the only one who can cure sin - through prayer to God. I don't know that psychiatrists can help all that much, but there's nothing wrong with Helmer's remarks. It just offends the feelings of the protected class of sodomizers.
British Conservatives need to grow a pair and start standing up for their comments. There is nothing wrong with her comments about “converting” homosexuals. A majority of Brits probably agree.
The problem is that the PC-dictatorship and its brownshirts are stronger in the UK than they are even in the USA.
well, it was an obvious set-up, entrapment, if you will, and this is what is so offensive.
The problem is that the PC-dictatorship and its brownshirts are stronger in the UK than they are even in the USA.
Yes, the problem is, they now set the precedent for the USA. Many of their “advances” and socially progressive techniques are precursors to our own. So it does not bode well.
Why bother to respond to someone like that?
"You're evil- Admit you are evil! And you hired an evil woman to lead you ADMIT IT "
Yet they would become hysterical if you turned their statement around and said that sex-change operations were illegitimate because being a man or woman is not something that needs curing.
If somebody wants to change some aspect of himself that makes him unhappy, who are they to demand that a psychologist should not help the patient?
Meanwhile, there is incessant government propaganda to leave the smoking lifestyle because of health consequences, but it is illegitimate to say anything about the health benefits of leaving the gay lifestyle.
Hah! Good point.
Tobacco smokers are incessantly hounded by laws, and TV commercials -- but the homosexual lifestyle which is orders of magnitude more physically destructive (not to mention spiritually destructive) gets a free pass.
Most of this concern about homophobia in Britain will end shortly after the Muslims take over, impose sharia law and start hanging the homosexuals for being homosexuals.
Of course, “dancing boys” will still be OK for Muslims.
Looks like this liberal tactic is even more popular in the UK than in the US. That is — loudly demand that a conservative apologize for saying something that gores your particular ox (done in conjunction with a supportive media).
If homosexuality was solely biological in origin, then this ability to change one’s sexual preferences would be nil.
This points to human sexuality as being flexible and homosexuality being perhaps a personality disorder.
Good points. There is a lot of clear evidence that there are biological differences between men and women — right down to the level of chromosomes. Conversely, there is (currently) zero evidence that “sexual preference” is biologically determined. Yet, changing “gender” is acceptable; but attempting to reorient sexual orientation is verboten.
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