Homophobia and The Ex Gay Movement Must Be Confronted and Challenged

 

 As a gay man myself I have always been somewhat aware of the ex-gay movement. One day in my early twenties, a time of my life in which I was most insecure about my sexuality, I was approached in the middle the street by a seemingly sweet old man. I noticed he was handing out leaflets, so naturally I assumed he was advertising a charity or local event. As I took a leaflet from his hand he looked me dead in the eye and yelled: ‘You shall not lie with a male as with a woman, it is an abomination.’ His words devastated me. This man had no idea I was gay, but that was beside the point. I had just experienced blatant homophobia in my home town and it went completely unchallenged by onlookers. 

My devastation only intensified as I continued to read the details of the leaflet I had just been handed, which outlined the details of the ex-movement. I read through bullet points that listed how gay people like myself were apparently destroying the fabric of society, and how ex-gay methods such as religious training and summer camps could help to turn me into a heterosexual, which was described as the ‘normal way of life’. Discrimination against gay people has taken many forms over the centuries, but in recent years a new kind of anti-gay phenomenon has emerged, known as the ‘ex-gay movement’. The term ‘ex-gay’ arises from the idea that people who are born gay can somehow change their sexuality or refrain from engaging in homosexual activity. 

The movement involves anti-gay people and organisations that encourage homosexuals to pursue a heterosexual lifestyle. More sensible members of our society might disregard the ex-gay movement as something so ridiculous it should just be ignored, but this movement can have a seriously damaging impact on gay people and can be more problematic than one might think. 

Gay people are susceptible to suffering with mental health issues throughout their lives due to the systematic homophobia that still exists. In many cases, this has led to extreme depression and suicide, the rate of which is disproportionately higher within the gay community compared to heterosexuals. Giving the ex-gay movement validation feeds into the already toxic narrative that homosexuality is something to be condemned and I believe this type of rhetoric should be challenged at every available opportunity. The ex-gay movement arguably had its most high-profile moment in 2012, when Christian group The Core Issues Trust placed posters on the side of London buses that read ‘Not Gay! Ex-Gay, Post-Gay and Proud. Get over it!’ in an attempt to promote the ex-gay movement and anti-gay propaganda. 

The posters were produced as a direct response to the London bus poster campaign carried out by gay rights group Stonewall, which read ‘Some people are gay. Get over it.’ The ex-gay movement posters were eventually banned by the then London Mayor Boris Johnson, and rightly so. Religiously driven ex-gay organisations are intent of promoting intolerance against an entire group of society – something Samuel Brinton, head of advocacy and government affairs at The Trevor Project, a suicide prevention service aimed at young LGBQ+ people, can attest to. 

At a young age, Sam was subjected to horrific physical and mental abuse during conversion therapy sessions arranged by his strict religious parents. Stonewall’s ‘Get over It!’ campaign attempted to challenge homophobia (Picture: Jure Makovec/AFP/Getty Images) In contrast, LGBT rights organisation Stonewall led the ‘Get over it!’ campaign, which was intended to tackle bullying in the classroom and change negative attitudes towards LGBT people, according to the group. My biggest issue regarding the ex-gay movement is the lasting impact it may have. When anti-gay rhetoric is thrown around unchallenged it can become normalised, and this particular type of rhetoric is especially poisonous when you consider its origins. 

Gay conversion procedures, which can include electroconvulsive therapy and genital mutilation, were once considered a genuine ‘cure’ for homosexuality. Worryingly, for some people, they still are. In 2017 it was reported that hundreds of gay and bisexual men had been abducted and tortured by authorities in the Chechen Republic. Accommodating this way of thinking, either through laws or claims of free speech, can have a dangerous effect on society, which is why some MPs and gay rights campaigners are calling on the government to outlaw gay conversion therapy in the UK. Sharon Hodgson, Labour MP for Washington and Sunderland West, is one of the influential political voices contributing to this debate in favour of ousting gay conversion therapy in the UK. Hodgson says: ‘Gay conversion therapy has no place in an open and tolerant society. It undermines the ability of LGBT individuals to freely be who they are and can have serious ramifications on their health and well-being. ‘Campaigns to outlaw and criminalise this barbaric and heinous practice are welcome.

 The Government must recognise their duty to protect the LGBT community from these abhorrent practices.’ Although the government has made clear that a person’s sexual orientation is not an illness to be cured, there is currently no plan to introduce new criminal offences for practising gay conversion therapy. I share the view of campaigners that this response from the government is not satisfactory in dispelling the discriminatory viewpoint of the ex-gay movement, which gay conversion therapy represents. Outlawing gay conversion therapy in the UK would assist in dismantling the idea held by many that homosexuality is something to be removed from society, and remind those involved in the ex-gay movement that their aim will never be achieved, and should never have been attempted in the first place. 

{Annonymous but endorsed by this blog. Information obtained through Metro}