Kenilworth, 6 July 2009 — Commenting on the call by Dr Michael Nazir-Ali, the Bishop of Rochester, for homosexuals to repent and “be changed”, George Broadhead, secretary of the gay humanist charity the Pink Triangle Trust, said: “The bishop’s homophobic outburst is hardly surprising given that he has repeatedly spoken and voted against gay human rights in the House of Lords, defending homophobic laws like the unequal age of consent, criticising civil partnership legislation and opposing IVF fertility treatment for lesbian couples.
“Predictably the bishop defended his view by referring to the deity, saying: ‘We believe that God has revealed his purpose about how we are made. People who depart from this don’t share the same faith. They are acting in a way that is not normative according to what God has revealed in the Bible.’ Equally predictable is the view of Christian apologists for homosexuality like the Rev Dr Giles Fraser, the president of the Inclusive Church, who said: ‘Homosexuality is not a sin. It is the way many people love each other and is a gift from God.’
“Of course these positions can’t both be right, and in any case they are preposterous since neither protagonist can prove that the deity exists, let alone what he/she/it thinks about homosexuality.
“What is really reprehensible, however, is that ghastly homophobes like the Bishop of Rochester are permitted to sit, as of right, in the House of Lords and influence our legislation.”