Evangelical Christian group’s gay ‘cure’ film blocked by another cinema
Mike Davidson of Core Issues Trust
Another cinema appears to have refused to screen a controversial film which claims there is a ‘cure’ for being gay.
The Core Issues Trust (CIT), an evangelical Christian group which backs efforts to change sexual orientation, issued a statement saying the documentary had been declined “without reason” by the Queen’s Film Theatre in Belfast, Northern Ireland.
Last month, the Vue Piccadilly Circus cinema in London dropped a screening of Voices of the Silenced: Experts, Evidences and Ideologies following a backlash.
The documentary, according to its producers, features 15 people who have “come out of homosexual practices” thanks to therapy or religion.
Mike Davidson, the CEO of CIT, said: “Clearly in Northern Ireland, in line with the rest of the UK, Christian freedom is restricted to freedom of worship alone.”
(YouTube/Voices of the Silenced)
He added: “Homosexual identity in the UK appears now to be mandatory for those experiencing the feelings.
“It seems there may be no dissent; gay identity must be affirmed and there is no debate to be had about the matter.
“But this is exactly why the politics of sexuality are unsustainable and will unravel.”
Mr Davidson told PinkNews he believed debate was being shut down by people who wanted to “censor” other points of view. “I think [the film] should be classified as a documentary that looks at LGBTI issues,” he said.
He insisted the term “gay cure” was a pejorative term being used by “lazy critics” and added his group would continue to search for mainstream UK cinemas prepared to screen the documentary. “We think that we have a right to that. We think minority views have to be heard.”
Related: Vue Cinemas blocks screening of pro-gay ‘cure’ therapy documentary
CIT, in their statement, also claimed that the move showed a deterioration of academic debate in the UK. The cinema is linked to Queen’s University Belfast.
“Scientific evidence has been replaced by ideology,” CIT said in their statement.
However, gay cure therapy has been widely dismissed by the global medical community.
CIT claimed the cinema had told them in email correspondence discussing a possible screening that their objective was to widen film access.
The theatre was said to have added that it was “committed, through its approved programme, to continue to promote and respect equality, diversity and inclusion.”
(YouTube/Voices of the Silenced)
Queen’s Film Theatre has not responded to requests for comment.
Vue Piccadilly Circus cinema, London, dropped its screening of the documentary following an investigation by PinkNews. The cinema group denied it was in response to a PinkNews story.
The documentary, which compares the treatment of Christian gay ‘cure’ therapists with the plight of Jewish slaves in Roman times, was said to challenge the “myth… that people are born gay”.
Lord Black of Brentwood, a Conservative peer, told PinkNews last month: “It is appalling that propaganda for so-called ‘gay conversion therapy’ should be being screened here in London.
“This wicked practice has been almost universally disavowed by the medical profession and is now rightly illegal in many countries.”
