[Updated 06/07/08] Northern Ireland politician Iris Robinson, a Democratic Unionist Member of UK Parliament, has provoked criticism by recommending ex-gay therapy, claiming that she has met people who have “turned around and become heterosexual.”
The Spokesman [sic] for Health, Youth and Women in the Northern Ireland Assembly, and wife of First Minister Peter Robinson, told the BBC she knew a Christian psychiatrist who had helped gays to “turn away from what they are engaged in,” adding that she would be “happy to put any homosexual in touch with this gentleman.”
Her comments came on Radio Ulster today, two days after a man was left for dead following a violent homophobic attack in the Northern Irish town of Newtownabbey. She condemned the attackers, but insisted that her faith teaches her to “love the sinner but hate the sin.”
Mrs Robinson’s opposition to homosexuality is not new. Last month she decried gay parenting during a parliamentary debate:
Can you envisage down the road a child going to primary school and being collected by two females or two males and the bullying and the abuse that these children will be exposed to?
Or going into the parents’ bedroom and finding two women making love or two men making love? And that’s natural for a child to see?
There has also been controversy over unconfirmed reports that Mrs Robinson, who attends an Elim Pentecostal church in Belfast, referred to homosexuality as an “abomination,” describing it as “disgusting, nauseous, loathsome, shamefully wicked and vile,” and saying it is “an offence to God, an offensive act and something that God abhors.”
Sinn Féin’s Education Minister Catríona Ruane responded by reminding the MP of her duty to respect equality:
There are equality laws in the north of Ireland … I think it is really important that politicians play a leadership role and that leadership role should be not to say anything that could possibly inflame the situation or cause further distress.
H/T: Queerty
(Extra H/T: Jimbo)
I wish Alan Chambers and his staff over at Exodus would respond directly to Robinson’s claim of meeting people who have “turned around and become heterosexual.” This sort of misconception of ex-gay ministry seems to be exactly the kind of false impression communicated by Exodus’s deceptive advertisement “change is possible.” If Exodus and ex-gay ministry are to have any credibility, they must stop using the misleading/deceptive language.
Robinson’s arguments against gay parenting are ridiculous.
First, the fact that kids are bullied is no indicator of the legitimacy or illegitimacy of their parent’s relationship. Kids in my American public school were mocked because their parents were Hispanic, but I’m sure Robinson wouldn’t fault their parents for having children.
The second argument is also bogus, because I feel it is inappropriate for children to watch their parents making love regardless of the parents’ genders!
So, it’s natural for a child to see a heterosexual couple having sex? I wouldn’t want to be her kid!
Joe– she’s just another homobigot. (I love that term). she doesn’t have to make any sense because she’s obsessed with something that isn’t about her. she could not possibly see that the bullying is the result of, not the validation of, attitudes like hers. Validation = Bullying is OK if it is directed at someone, or the children of someone, she doesn’t like.
She cannot see that the violence and the hatred she validates are thoroughly UN-Christian in any sense of the word. And the hollow braying of Protect the Children (TM) is belied by her schadenfreude approval of violence directed towardschildren.
The short hand version of this is probably best: she is (probably) irretrievably poisoned by hate and fear.
such people are not reachable by ordinary mortals or events.
“Can you envisage down the road a child going to primary school and being collected by two females or two males and the bullying and the abuse that these children will be exposed to?”– Here’s a thought teach the other kids to not bully or abuse maybe that would be better.
This story has been getting more coverage in the UK, including a spot on Channel 4 news, where the local gay support group gave a very measured response and offered to meet Mrs. Robinson to help her understand their viewpoint.
However, reading this article, she seems to have turned down the opportunity:
Mrs Robinson refused an invitation to meet gay men and women to find out more about the problems and prejudices they face in their lives. Declining the offer… she said: “I do not need to put my hand into the fire to know I will get burned.”
The article also notes:
Mrs Robinson described homosexuality as “disgusting, nauseous, loathsome, shamefully wicked and vile” and said her strong Christian upbringing meant she would never change her views and nothing would stop her from speaking out on the issue.
Closed minds.
Thanks, Jimbo.
I see that Ms Robinson’s Christian psychiatrist, Dr Paul Miller, is sticking to his guns, citing the Jones & Yarhouse study in defence of his position.
However, the Royal College of Psychiatrists repudiates his claims.
https://www.newsletter.co.uk/news/Gay-row-doctor-defends-claims.4163211.jp
” Can you envisage down the road a child going to primary school and being collected by two females or two males and the bullying and the abuse that these children will be exposed to?”
So the bully’s make the rules in the world? Bullying is an unfortunate reality, and it stems from hateful speeches like Robinson’s. Her whole point of view gives aid and comfort to bullies especially considering she’s a public figure and very forward about her Christianity
” Or going into the parents’ bedroom and finding two women making love or two men making love? And that’s natural for a child to see?”
[A] Locks exist, and smart parents use them along with common sense.
[B] It’s not appropriate for a child to see their parents have sex, period.
[C] It is traumatic (but not paralyzing) for a child to walk in on his parents having sex, and that doesn’t matter if they are straight or gay.
I walked in on my parents when I was 17, and believe me it was awkward and embarassing for everyone.
I believe this argument is what we call “grasping at straws”.
Iris Robinson on a ‘treatment’ for gays (Audio):
https://www.bbc.co.uk/northernireland/nolan/phonecallarchive/
The whole radio program:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/radio/aod/networks/ulster/aod.shtml?ulster/nolan_fri#
But she loves us:
Or my (more accurate) version:
Here’s to you Mrs. Robinson, for loving us like you love murderers.