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Conversion Therapy – Rethink Finally

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The Growing Movement to Ban Conversion Therapy

 

 

Earlier this month I wrote an article (Gay Conversion Therapy – Government Cop Out) reflecting back on how long we have been raising this issue and why was the government dragging its feet over putting in place measure to stop young LGBTQ people from being mentally tortured?

I reflected back on Dr Paul Miller, on Stormont’s intransigence, and how the Westminster bullies (those in a position of power and trust) seemed to feel that LGBTQ people do not count and do not need to be protected.

So I welcome that the Northern Ireland Executive is going to take the lead and develop a strategy across a number of Departments to have legislation put in place to place a ban on reparative or conversion therapy by private operations.

As I said in my previous article, conversion therapy is nothing short of ‘brain washing’, the LGBTQ community and the people in it do not need to be converted, they need to be made to feel equal within society in all aspects! 

Raising Equality (US) - Openclipart

 

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Gay Conversion Therapy – Government Cop Out

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In June 2013, I wrote a short piece on Dr Paul Miller MD DMH MRC Psych as he had hit the headlines due to his ability to ‘cure’ gays through ‘Gay Conversion Therapy’.  Also, his close connections to ex-Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) MP Iris Robinson.

Why am I re-raising this again you may ask; well I was reading some old Hansards’ and came across a report on Dr Miller talking to a

NORTHERN IRELAND ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE FOR HEALTH, SOCIAL SERVICES AND PUBLIC SAFETY

where he was talking about suicide and in particular with young men.  He also made reference to his Christian beliefs in this report.  He outlined all his experience and qualifications – which  to a layman seem to be very exhaustive.

Now back to today, Dr Miller is Consultant Psychiatrist and Psychogeriatrician. Clinical Lead and Responsible Officer at Mirabilis Health which is based in Glengormley.  A recent report (Announced Care Inspection Report 27 March 2017) from The Regulation and Quality Improvement Authority found no issues with the establishment and the 12 patients who submitted questionnaire responses indicated that the service is well managed.

Now the therapy system that Dr Miller uses is:

EMDR therapy is broken down into eight different phases, so you’ll need to attend multiple sessions. Treatment usually takes about 12 separate sessions.

Phase 1: History and treatment planning

Your therapist will first review your history and decide where you are in the treatment process. This evaluation phase also includes talking about your trauma and identifying potential traumatic memories to treat specifically.

Phase 2: Preparation

Your therapist will then help you learn several different ways to cope with the emotional or psychological stress you’re experiencing.

Stress management techniques such as deep breathing and mindfulness may be used.

Phase 3: Assessment

During the third phase of EMDR treatment, your therapist will identify the specific memories that will be targeted and all the associated components (such as the physical sensations that are stimulated when you concentrate on an event) for each target memory.

Phases 4-7: Treatment

Your therapist will then begin using EMDR therapy techniques to treat your targeted memories. During these sessions, you will be asked to focus on a negative thought, memory, or image.

Your therapist will simultaneously have you do specific eye movements. The bilateral stimulation may also include taps or other movements mixed in, depending on your case.

After the bilateral stimulation, your therapist will ask you to let your mind go blank and notice the thoughts and feelings you’re having spontaneously. After you identify these thoughts, your therapist may have you refocus on that traumatic memory, or move on to another.

If you become distressed, your therapist will help bring you back to the present before moving on to another traumatic memory. Over time, the distress over particular thoughts, images, or memories should start to fade.

Phase 8: Evaluation

In the final phase, you’ll be asked to evaluate your progress after these sessions. Your therapist will do the same.

I am not saying EMDR is not successful, EMDR therapy has proven to be very effective in the treatment of PTSD for instance, however as being gay is not a medical condition, and possibly using it as a form of Gay Conversion treatment of ‘gays’ it would seem more like a version of brainwashing.

Brainwashing - Gay Conversion Therapy

Now the LGBT community has been fighting for gay conversion therapy to be banned in the UK.  Indeed in 2018, then-prime minister Theresa May’s LGBT action plan said the government would bring forward proposals to “end the practice of conversion therapy” as a priority; however the current Conservative equalities minister Kemi Badenoch says the so-called therapy is a ‘very complex issue’ and the department was unable to produce a timetable for any legislation or forthcoming consultation.

Westminster and Gay Conversion Therapy
Conservative Government Cop Out

Research

Belfast psychiatrist Miller to face cash dealings probe – Headline from 18 April 2013

The ‘gay cure’ experiments that were written out of scientific history

Treatments of homosexuality in Britain since the 1950s—an oral history: the experience of patients

Conversion Therapy

The cruel, dangerous reality of gay conversion therapy

Gay Conversion Therapy’s Disturbing 19th-Century Origins

I tried gay conversion therapy and it was my own horror film

UK government hasn’t banned gay conversion therapy two years after pledge to end practice

EMDR Therapy: What You Need to Know

Conscience clause: 'No anti-gay law' billboard tours Northern Ireland

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All-Out's billboard against the 'conscience clause' Bill

All-Out’s billboard against the ‘conscience clause’ Bill

Reprinted from Belfast Telegraph – 19 MARCH 2015

A huge pink billboard objecting to the DUP’s “conscience clause” Bill has been touring around Northern Ireland in an attempt to convince Paul Givan to drop his proposed legislation.

The van has been paid for by a crowdfunding campaign among people around the world, who believe the MLA is introducing an anti-gay law that will legalise discrimination.
Mr Givan Private Member’s Bill was sparked by a case involving Ashers Bakery, whose Christian owners rejected an order for a cake iced with a message supporting same-sex marriage.
Ashers is facing a court battle over its decision to refuse to make the cake. The Equality Commission, which has taken the case against the business on behalf of the customer whose order was declined, has alleged the bakery’s stance was in breach of equality legislation.
But Mr Givan said he believed this was wrong and wants the law to be “rebalanced”.
Last month, 230,000 people signed a petition by gay rights campaign group All Out against his Bill.
Following this, 900 members crowdfunded the billboard van – paying for it to drive around Belfast and in Paul Givan’s constituency, Lagan Valley.
It parked up outside Stormont, Titanic Belfast and St Anne’s Cathedral, displaying the message “230,000 say no anti-gay law in Northern Ireland”.
All Out co-founder Andre Banks said: “The DUP’s anti-gay amendment would make it legal for businesses to refuse to serve lesbian, gay and bi people, just because of who they love. 230,000 All Out members signed our petition to make it clear that this just isn’t OK.  Not in Northern Ireland – not anywhere.
“Hundreds of thousands of voices opposing the proposed anti-gay amendment were taken straight to politicians in Northern Ireland. More than 900 of us chipped in a small donation, so a giant billboard van with our message for equality could drive non-stop around Belfast and Paul Givan’s constituency, to push him to drop his anti-gay plan.”

What does the proposed bill mean?

  • Paul Givan says the focus of his Northern Ireland Freedom of Conscience Amendment Bill is “making space for rights that clash”. He says it aims to “make space for providers” and proposes that businesses may refuse a situation where they feel they are required to “endorse, promote or facilitate a same-sex sexual relationship in violation of his/her faith identity”.
  • For example, a Catholic adoption agency could refuse to place a child with a same-sex couple, a Muslim printer could refuse to print a book promoting same-sex sexual relationships and an evangelical photographer would not be required to choose between taking photographs at a civil partnership ceremony and losing their livelihood.
  • But, Mr Givan says, an evangelical grocer could not refuse to sell an apple to a gay man, or a Muslim printer could not refuse to print a brochure publicising coffee tables made by a lesbian cabinet maker.
  • The Rainbow Coalition, which supports gay rights, has claimed that under the Bill restaurants could deny a same-sex couple, a mortgage provider could deny a mortgage to a same-sex couple, and hoteliers could deny a room to a same sex couple as all could be seen as endorsing or facilitating same-sex relations.
  • The draft Bill has been published on the DUP website. The party is inviting responses about its contents to be submitted to its headquarters on Dundela Avenue in east Belfast. The consultation will close at 5pm on Friday, February 27.

All-Out's billboard against the 'conscience clause' Bill

All-Out’s billboard against the ‘conscience clause’ Bill


 
 

Church of Ireland split over gay rights and DUP's conscience clause Bill

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I am reprinting an article which appeared in the Belfast Telegraph on March 4th, 2015 about the proposed ‘conscience clause’ being introduced into Stormont.  What I find interesting is the rhetoric being used by both the politicians and the church in favour of this clause.  In November 2010, The Daily Telegraph published a letter from religious leaders urging the then Labour government to reconsider the lowering of the agent of consent.  It was signed by 17 signatories, including the former Archbishop of Canterbury, George Carey and Cormac Murphy-O’Connor, head of the Roman Catholic Church and the secretary general of Muslim Council of Great Britain.

The letter stressed strong ‘moral’ objections to the lowering of the age of homosexual consent: that it brought alleged health risks, and ran counter to “the beliefs of many religious people – Christians, Jews, Muslims, Hindus,” and that the legislation was contrary to public opinion.
To accept this ‘conscience clause’ is to accept a step back to the days where we had no rights.  I honestly urge you to write to your councillors, MPs, Stormont representatives and tell them that this clause is wrong.
The Stop the Clause petition had more than 148,000 people who have signed the petition against the Northern Ireland DUP-backed “conscience clause” bill that would permit anti-gay discrimination.
                                   

 
 

Church of Ireland split over gay rights and DUP’s conscience clause Bill

Canon Charles Kenny, left, and Rev Adrian DorrianCanon Charles Kenny, left, and Rev Adrian Dorrian
Canon Charles Kenny, left, and Rev Adrian Dorrian
BY JOANNE SWEENEY – 04 MARCH 2015
A split has opened in the Church of Ireland over its attitude to the DUP’s ‘conscience clause’.
An article in tomorrow’s Church of Ireland Gazette newspaper has sparked off an angry reaction from a pro-LGBT pressure group.
In the article, the Rev Adrian Dorrian, chairman of the Church and Society Commission, said he broadly welcomed the Bill introduced by the DUP’s Paul Givan.
If passed, the Lagan Valley MLA’s Private Members Bill would allow those with strongly-held religious beliefs to refuse to provide certain services.
Mr Dorrian said he would seek amendments to the bill to “ensure it cannot be used to facilitate discrimination against members of the LGBT community”.
The Bill was introduced by Mr Givan after the Equality Commission took legal action against Asher’s Bakery over its refusal to make a cake with a message promoting gay marriage.
Rev Dorrian said: “We will certainly encourage a comprehensive conversation around religious and civil freedom in Northern Ireland and I will be affirming the Church of Ireland’s position that marriage ‘is part of God’s creation and a holy mystery in which one man and one woman become one flesh’.”
However, Canon Charles Kenny from the Church of Ireland’s gay rights group Changing Attitude Ireland said Rev Dorrian’s views may not be representative.
The Church of Ireland did not make a formal written response to a consultation process on the bill which ended last Friday.
Rev Kenny said: “I hope that the Rev Dorrian’s view is not shared by all members of the Commission or the wider membership of the Church of Ireland.”
“This is more Mr Dorrian’s views, as he’s known as a social conservative, rather than the views of the Church and Society Commission as they have not put out any official response to the DUP over the consultation.
“He seems to be making this an issue between gay people on one hand and Christians on the other.
“And it’s not. There are lots and lots of members who do not accept the hardline, fundamentalist, biblical literalistic line that Mr Givan and the DUP has as a whole.”
He said that he was dismayed at the anti-gay motivation and tone of the DUP’s conscience clause but was heartened by the nearly quarter of a million signatories to an online petition against it.
Last night Mr Dorrian confirmed that the Church and Society Commission had yet not met to discuss its official response, although he and several other Commission members met Mr Givan yesterday.
He said: “With regard to the Ashers Bakery cake I think the vast majority of Christians seem to think that there is mismatch between the Ashers case in relation to the charges being brought against the bakery and what actually happened. The Church of Ireland is very clear that there can be no room for discrimination, but that doesn’t mean that there can’t be a disagreement about how to interpret the morality of such things.”
In 2012, the church’s Synod voted to reaffirm its support of traditional marriage between a man and a woman.

What Does the Northern Ireland Assembly Know on Homosexuality?

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A reflection of our times:
 

The City Hall in its coat of many colours

The City Hall in its coat of many colours


 
Stormont Northern Ireland

Stormont remains in its ‘vanilla’ coat


The following two motions were put forward to the Assembly in December 2012, both motions highlight just how the assembly still is failing the LGBT part of the community, because both motions have still be acted upon.
 

  • Lifting the Ban on Homosexual Men Donating Blood

That this Assembly notes that Northern Ireland is now the only region in the United Kingdom where homosexual men are banned from donating blood; further notes the findings of the report on Blood Donor Selection Criteria Review in April 2011; considers it to be unreasonable and intolerant to continue to turn away suitable donors; and calls on the Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety to lift the ban and to adopt the same safeguards as those that have been implemented across the rest of the United Kingdom.
[Mr J McCallister]
[Mr S Gardiner]
 

  • Bullying in Schools

That this Assembly acknowledges the negative impacts of bullying in schools; recognises the increase in cyber bullying and the endemic nature of homophobic bullying in schools in Northern Ireland; notes that bullying is linked to an increased risk of isolation, depression, self harm and suicidal ideation among young people; calls on the Minister of Education to acknowledge the particular issue of homophobic bullying; and further calls on the Minister to develop immediately a comprehensive and wide ranging anti-bullying action plan and to begin a programme of work, with schools, to make them safe and welcoming environments for all our young people.
[Mr S Rogers]
[Mrs D Kelly]
[04 September 2012]
Notes from the Northern Ireland Assembly
An article by Eamonn McCann ‘Stormon in Dark Ages over homosexuality’, published  in the Belfast Telegraph 18 July 2013,  would seem to give further evidence towards this in a small way, but what was more enlightening was the off-the-cuff comment by the young woman at the desk of the British Museum on being told that there was little represenation of the Celts or the Ulsters Scots in the British Museum’s sumptuous collection of gay artifacts from civilisations across the globe and down the ages – “Well, they’ve always been a bit odd over there, haven’t they?”
In July 2011, Dolores Kelly said ‘…members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community must “push” to make their voice heard.
“I think they need to push hard and hold to account their political representatives,” Ms Kelly said.
“Particularly the leader of the biggest party here in the north which is of course the DUP and I think they have to be challenged on all fronts.”
Politics in Northern Ireland is not just about religion, it is about bias and ignorance on many fronts,  The LGBT community needs to organise itself and to communicate with and pursue its local and national representatives into supporting the needs of our community.  (UTV Report)
 
Just after I wrote this piece, I was forwarded an notification on the

UN Human Rights Office Launches Unprecedented Global Campaign for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Equality

I am attaching a copy of the document for information and look forward to our community being actively involved in delivering ‘Equality for the LGBT Community’

UN Human Rights Office Launches Unprecedented Global Campaign for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Equality

human rights defenderUnited Nations HUman Rights - Office of the High Commissioner

 
human-rights-not-an-option