News and analysis of exgay politics and culture.
By Dave Rattigan on Jun 12th, 2013
A British journalist says she finally realized the value of same-sex marriage after falling in love with a man – despite previously identifying as gay. On The Guardian‘s Comment is free website, Helen Bell writes: I’ve always wanted to end up with someone interesting, clever, funny, attractive, liberal-minded and, above all, kind. My partner is all […]
By Dave Rattigan on Nov 28th, 2012
Mike Davidson, leader of the Northern Ireland-based Core Issues, has again misrepresented the reasons why he was dismissed from the British Psychodrama Association. The ex-gay therapist, whose group effectively promotes the work of NARTH in the UK, has complained before that his membership was revoked without a hearing. In his latest missive, to the Organisation […]
By Dave Rattigan on Nov 14th, 2012
The UK’s Minister of State for Care Services has told Parliament the British government does not condone the idea of a “gay cure.” Asked for the government’s official position on the practise of therapy to change sexual orientation, Norman Lamb, a Liberal Democrat health minister in the UK’s Conservative-Liberal coalition, replied: The Department of Health […]
By Dave Rattigan on May 24th, 2012
Watch the Channel 4 News report about Lesley Pilkington, the Christian therapist who lost her appeal against suspension from the British Association of Counselling and Psychotherapy for her appalling practice: Below, Channel 4’s Jon Snow interviews Mrs Pilkington: Rightly or wrongly, the appeal verdict said nothing about the validity of conversion therapy or reparative therapy, […]
By Dave Rattigan on May 23rd, 2012
Leslie Pilkington, the Christian therapist suspended from practice after offering to help turn a gay client straight, has had her appeal rejected by the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy. The hearing that led to her suspension found her conduct “reckless,” “disrespectful,” “dogmatic” and “unprofessional,” and concluded that she let her “personal preconceived views about […]
By Dave Rattigan on Apr 23rd, 2012
Core Issues director Mike Davidson told The Daily Telegraph he believes being gay is a “normal developmental aberration,” and explained what he really means when he says he’s ex-gay. “We don’t consider it a disease,” he told the paper. He later added: “I see homosexuality as a normal developmental aberration. Which I know would sound profoundly […]
By Dave Rattigan on Apr 16th, 2012
Before Core Issues hit the publicity jackpot with its controversial ex-gay advertising campaign, its director, Mike Davidson, was still licking his wounds from a disastrous radio appearance. Not long after the tense interview on BBC Radio Ulster in January 2012, Davidson, a trainee psychotherapist, had his membership of the British Psychodrama Association revoked. He’d appeared […]
By Dave Rattigan on Apr 13th, 2012
The British Psychodrama Association has revoked the membership of Mike Davidson, a key figure behind the London bus ads that would — if Mayor Boris Johnson hadn’t put a stop to them — have proclaimed to commuters: “Not gay! Ex-gay, post-gay and proud. Get over it!” Davidson is director of Core Issues Trust, a Northern Ireland-based […]
By Dave Rattigan on Apr 12th, 2012
Ex-gays in the UK will go on the offensive later this month when they launch an ad campaign subverting a well-known pro-gay slogan. But its conservative Christian organizers come with a notorious reputation for promoting pseudoscience and extreme homophobia. The words “Not gay! Ex-gay, post-gay and proud. Get over it!” will appear on the sides […]
By Dave Rattigan on Feb 23rd, 2012
Lesley Pilkington, the British psychotherapist stripped of her credentials after offering to cure a patient of his homosexuality, has appeared on TV to express her dismay at LGBT equality. Mrs Pilkington told Channel 4’s 4thought.tv that she believed “Christianity should be central to our nation today.” She continued: We have lost the notion of sin. […]