Philip Schofield battles with ‘abhorrent’ homophobe in fiery TV debate

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TV presenter Phillip Schofield fired back against a woman who claimed it is “not good” for children to be gay, and that people can’t actually be transgender.

Andrea Williams, the head of campaigning group Christian Concern, spoke on This Morning about new guidelines from the Church of England.

Williams appeared on the show with Joshua Sutcliffe, a maths teacher who was recently suspended for allegedly repeatedly misgendering a transgender student.

As part of a discussion on Sutcliffe’s suspension, Andrea Williams began by dismissing the whole idea of being transgender.

Schofield asked her: “In your eyes, it is not possible to be born in the wrong body?”

She replied: “No we are born male and female and we cannot change that, surgery cannot change that.

“The kindest thing we can do is to help the child with the gender identity disorder…and help them to live in the body that they have.”

Philip Schofield battles with ‘abhorrent’ homophobe in fiery TV debate
(Photo: ITV)

Williams continued with her bigotry, saying: “Very often when we see children identifying as homosexual, it is not good for them to live out in a such a lifestyle.”


The debate then became more heated, with Schofield overlapping with Williams as she says “It is not good for our children to be sexualized.”

Schofield says in response: “I’m finding this utterly abhorrent.”

Philip Schofield battles with ‘abhorrent’ homophobe in fiery TV debate
(Photo: ITV)

As the presenter ended the interview, he said: “back to the show and back to 2017 and not medieval Britain.”

This Morning is no stranger to controversy, with two parents on the show recently declaring that trans tolerance will turn children into animals.

Andrea Williams’ interview on This Morning followed an earlier appearance on Good Morning Britain, where Williams spoke with notorious host Piers Morgan.

Piers Morgan lashed out at new guidance and wondered whether increasing acceptance of non-binary people meant that he could identify as a giraffe.

The guidelines, given to Church of England schools, offer advice for combatting homophobic and transphobic bullying.

They include guidance on allowing children to express themselves and removing gendered expectations for play and dress-up in the classroom.

The guidelines were met with significant criticism from many outlets, with several newspapers running critical headlines.