The “Holy Sexuality” Conference in London was cancelled after 40,000 people signed a petition calling for its abandonment.
Dubbed the “Gay Cure Summit” by GayStarNews, the 5-day conference was to be held from 21-25 April and aimed at helping people who struggle with unwanted same-sex attraction. According to the advert:
“This conference will be invaluable for those who are struggling with their sexuality or for those who wish to find out more about issues surrounding sexuality and same sex attraction to reach out to others.”
The three people supposed to speak at the event were Americans Mike Carducci, Wayne Blakely, and Danielle Harrison. These speakers explained that they found “redemption, victory, healing and freedom from their [homosexual] lifestyle.”
The conference was organized by the Seventh Day Adventist Church, a Christian organization that believes homosexuality is a sin and breaks God’s Commandment.
Kirsten Lundquist, the communications and media director of South England Conference of Seventh-Day Adventists, was disappointed by the decision to cancel the conference, saying:
“Seventh-day Adventists are a people of peace who believe in hope and dialogue. However, it appeared that rather than drawing people together the conference had the potential to divide. The Adventist Church recognises that the individuals invited to speak at the Holy Sexuality Conference have compelling life stories to share but equally appreciate that there are those who take a different point of view.”
The entire statement can be found in this article.
However, many people took offense at the goal of the conference, saying that promoting the idea of curing homosexuality is “dangerous.” The UK Council for Psychotherapy even described “conversion theory” as abuse.
The conference was also denounced by political figures. Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg said:
“If anything needs curing, it is the outdated belief that being gay is wrong or something to be ashamed of. Sexuality is not an illness but an inherent part of who you are.”
In an article on Change.org, human rights activist Omar Kuddus called for the Government to refuse visas to people who seek to cure people of gay desires. Kuddus started the petition to cancel the Holy Sexuality conference, and he believes the Government should protect gay people from those who want to cure them.
“We are disappointed that in a society that values freedom of speech and divergence of opinion that there are those whose wish it is to silence individuals who hold a different point of view to their own.”
That same week, a similar event called The Transformation Potential Conference took place in Westminster. It was held by Core Issues, a Christian ministry organization. Although more than 13,000 people signed a petition to cancel it, nevertheless the talks were held on 14 April.
Ukip candidate Alan Craig, former leader of the Christian Peoples Alliance, was set to speak at this conference. However, organizers asked him to step aside so the issues discussed at the seminar would not be “associated with any one political party.”
Omar Kuddus also fought for the cancellation of this conference, believing these events are harmful to those who attend them. In a statement to the Evening Standard, Kuddos said:
“You don’t expect two gay cure conferences to take place in London at all, especially in the same week. I find it diabolical someone representing the group is allowed to preach hate in England. At the end of the day that is what conversion therapy is – sexuality is not a choice.”
The irony in this is that the very people who claim Christians want to “silence” gay people are the very ones who cancel conferences and want to refuse visas to people coming to speak at these events. They are the ones trying to silence differing opinions, embodying a tactic that prohibits free speech and cancels conferences.
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It seems to me that if people want to consider for themselves anti-gay therapy, or indeed abortion, they should be allowed do so. Different people will take different action according to their circumstances. There would never be demonstrations or protests against the right to choose contact lenses rather than spectacles, or even drastic methods of losing weight, if that is what people want.
Surely some mistake? Therapy is something you can embark on for yourself. Abortion kills another human being. How are the two related?
“Therapy” is very often, in fact probably most often, used to refer to curing or improving a psychological condition, in fact this “anti-gay therapy” is using the word in that sense. Abortion can be used to alleviate psychological suffering following rape, etc. There may also be a physical condition in the mother which can be alleviated by losing the baby. I believe it used to be perfectly traditional for doctors to ask the husband if he wanted his wife or his child to be saved during a difficult birth, with the assumption that both doctor and husband would be Christians.
However, let’s not argue about abortion, and when a foetus becomes “a human being”. What about methods of correcting vision or losing weight ? One has the right to choose what one wants here, as with anti-gay therapy if one wants it.
I thought I was agreeing with you on this one ! Surely you wouldn’t make anti-gay therapy compulsory ?