A celebrity, three drag queens and about 100 people of mixed background, ages, race, gender, beliefs, ability and sexual orientation.
This could sound like the ideal premise for a glamourous party. Why Jimmy Somerville and the Sisters of the Perpetual Indulgence found themselves gathered together on a sunny London pavement on Saturday was however for altogether more serious reasons. Two religious groups (Anglican Mainstream and CARE) had come together to organise a two-day conference entitled Sex and the City, Redeeming Sex Today. The key contributors to the event were controversial American ‘psychiatrists’ Joseph Nicolosi and Jeffrey Satinover, and Doctor (of law) Arthur Goldberg, co-director of JONAH and president of PATH. All three have built a career on the premise that gay people can be turned straight if they want it hard enough. Talks at the conference included ‘Myths we live by: The gay gene, once-gay-always-gay, gay sex is just like straight sex’ by Jeffrey Satinover, ‘The psychological, cultural & political agenda of LGBT activism: Past, present & future’ by Jeffrey Satinover, ‘The Scriptures and sex’ by Gordon Wenham and ‘Mentoring the sexually broken’ by Arthur Goldberg. While these were taking place, Joseph Nicolosi was involved in some mysterious “sessions” in a different room throughout the day. The Friday evening also featured a “Social Time, Guest Panel & Question Box” (people are asked to leave questions in a box for the panel) which was “followed by Special Interest Groups” (“It [was] hoped that Special Interest Groups [would] include those affected by SSA [Same-Sex Attraction], spouses, parents, family members and friends, counsellors, therapists, coaches, etc, those focussed on the political agenda plus any others deemed appropriate”).
While the ex-gay movement is quite visible in US, it came as a shock to see that this is happening in the UK. This despite the fact that all major medical associations in the US and the UK, have been clearly stating for at least two decades that homosexuality is not a disease and that it can therefore not be cured.