The 300,000-strong The Presbyterian Church in Ireland will release a report later this year in which they tacitly affirm the potential power conversion therapy. The Social Issues and Resources Panel announces:
It is sufficiently documented that there are those who have moved from a position of having same sex attractions to being heterosexual…
This is entirely possible for some whose sexual identity has been part and parcel of a confused personal identity.
Some may claim that such people were never truly homosexual or lesbian in the first place. That may be so and it is important to note that for many, even should they wish to undergo counseling their same sex attractions may not change…
Though the panel also suggests the creation of a homo help line, it does not explicitly recognize the existence of gay people…
Rather, the panel refers to gays as “people with same-sex desires,” thus maintaining the church’s stance that sexuality “does not define” a person’s identity. While that’s certainly the case, in refusing to label gays “gay,” the church sticks homosexuality right up there with other life struggles, such as adultery.
Mag Lochlainn, President of the Irish Gay and Lesbian Rights Association reacted to the report:
I would urge all gay people to show respect and understanding for Presbyterians. It is not their fault that they are so often bitter homophobes… LGBT people should stretch out the hand of friendship to those in our society still afflicted by religion, and help them to see the light.
Which light? The light that says gay people aren’t inhuman hellish monsters? That would be nice. Lochlainn’s comments, however, also seem to be shredding the significance of organized religion, which may only fuel Bible-thumper’s anti-gay arguments.
How about we take this to the next level?
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Church report into homophobia advocates “ex-gay” counselling [Pink News UK]
David Garrahy
Just to say this refers mainly to Northern Ireland, there’s less than 20,000 people who are Presbyterian in the Republic…generally, in terms of tolerance – things are better for the gays here, Equality legislation, Employment equality, large (mainly Dublin-based) scene.
Northern Ireland on the other hand is considered to be the most bigoted part of Wester Europe in its attitude towards gays, this is mainly due to the attitude of the largest political party, the loyalist DUP, which is lead by Ian Paisley, a Free Presbyterian. However, they have enacted Civil Unions, along with the rest of the U.K., something we here in the Republic have not. However, if the current General Election goes the way we hope, such legislation will be enacted quite soon…yay for da gays!!
Thanks for the opportunity to post on the site…David in Dublin.
Paul Raposo
That’s why I rally like Queerty; we hear from readers worldwide on all sorts of issues. Thanks for the input, David, it’s interesting to hear from LGBTQ’s from other places than just New York 8^)