Christian group books anti-gay ads to appear on buses
A 'gay therapy' campaign to appear in London is aimed at changing the sexual orientation of homosexual people
Core Issues Trust's advert states: 'Not gay! Post-gay, ex-gay and proud. Get over it!' mimicking the style of Stonewall's: 'Some people are gay. Get over it' advertising campaign which has run recently.
London buses have been booked to carry a Christian advertising campaign expected to start next week, which asserts the power of therapy to change the sexual orientation of gay people.
The full length advert, which will appear on five different routes in the capital, is backed by the Core Issues Trust whose leader, Mike Davies, believes "homoerotic behaviour is sinful". His charity funds "reparative therapy" for gay Christians who believe that they have homosexual feelings but want to become straight. The campaign is also backed by Anglican Mainstream, an worldwide orthodox Anglican group whose supporters have equated homosexuality with alcoholism.
The advert will say: "Not gay! Post-gay, ex-gay and proud. Get over it!" Post-gay and ex-gay are terms used by Christians and some psychotherapists and psychiatrists to refer to homosexual people who have undergone spiritual or pastoral therapy and, according to an Anglican Mainstream definition, have "now left a homosexual lifestyle [and experienced] an increased emotional and sexual attraction to the opposite biological gender and possibly a reduction in or loss of same-sex attraction."
The buses are due to roll out on Monday morning on some of the most popular routes. They will be seen for two weeks travelling past St Paul's Cathedral, down Oxford Street, round Trafalgar Square and through Piccadilly Circus as well as across other parts of the capital.
The campaign is an explicit attempt to hit back at gay rights group Stonewall, which ran its own bus advert saying: "Some people are gay. Get over it." The Christian groups have used the same black, red and white colour scheme as Stonewall and accuses it of promoting the "false idea that there is indisputable scientific evidence that people are born gay".
The Rev Lynda Rose, a spokesperson for the UK branch of Anglican Mainstream said because her group adheres to scripture that all fornication outside marriage is prohibited, it believes that homosexuals are "not being fully the people God intended us to be".
It has sparked an angry response from gay rights campaigners.
The former Europe minister and gay ex-vicar, Chris Bryant MP, said the advert was cruel, particularly to teenagers struggling to come to terms with their sexuality, for promoting the idea that you could become "ex-gay".
"The emotional damage that is done to the individuals who try to suppress their sexuality, the women they marry and the children they might have is immeasurable," he said. "Most sane Christians believe that homosexuality is not a lifestyle or a choice but is a fact to be discovered or not. The pretence that homosexuality is something you can be weaned off in some way is a fundamental misunderstanding of the nature of creation."
Ben Summerskill, the chief executive of Stonewall, said the adverts were clearly homophobic and added: "The only reason some gay people might want to stop being gay is because of the prejudice of the people who are publishing the ad.
"The promotion of this voodoo therapy is hugely irresponsible given the damage that it appears to do to some people."
Attempts to "treat" or alter sexual orientation have been strongly condemned by leading medical organisations. The Royal College of Psychiatrists has warned that "so-called treatments of homosexuality create a setting in which prejudice and discrimination flourish" and concluded in 2010 that "there is no sound evidence that sexual orientation can be changed". The British Medical Association has also attacked "conversion therapy", a related field to reparation therapy, passing a motion asserting that it is "discredited and harmful to those 'treated' ".
Rose said therapies endorsed by Anglican Mainstream and Core Issues were not coercive and stressed that they are appropriate for people who want to change their sexual attractions, for example if they are married and are worried about the impact of a gay lifestyle on their children.
"Reparative therapy works to help men, who want to change their sexual orientation, naturally dissipate their homoerotic feelings and maximise their heterosexual potential," she said.
In a statement, Anglican Mainstream and Core Issues said Stonewall's slogan is "merely another attempt to close down the critical debate about being gay, and marriage 'equality' ". They accused Stonewall of riding roughshod over individuals who chose to "move out of homosexuality".
The statement continued: "Both organisations recognise the rights of individuals to identify as gay, and to live according to their own values. But by the same token, they believe individuals – such as married men and women unhappy with their homosexuality – should be supported in developing their heterosexual potential where this is the appropriate life choice for them … Current scientific research says there is no gay gene and that sexuality is far more fluid than has hitherto been thought."
Assuming that the campaign prompts complaints to the Advertising Standards Authority it is likely to be investigated against the advertising code rules relating to harm and offence and potentially to truthfulness and substantiation.
According to the code an advertisement must not contain content that is likely to cause serious or widespread offence. However the fact that a campaign is offensive to some people does not mean it will necessarily be banned.
"Particular care must be taken to avoid causing offence on the grounds of race, religion, gender, sexual orientation, disability or age," rule 4.1 of the code states. "Compliance will be judged on the context, medium, audience, product and prevailing standards"
The campaign could also prompt complaints about whether or not the statements that relate to "reparative therapy" – "post-gay, ex-gay" – can be substantiated by the Christian group.
Source
ASA form for registering a complaint about this ad
Update: Transport For London have just blocked this ad from appearing, saying "We don’t believe these ads reflect TfL’s commitment to a tolerant and inclusive London".
A 'gay therapy' campaign to appear in London is aimed at changing the sexual orientation of homosexual people
Core Issues Trust's advert states: 'Not gay! Post-gay, ex-gay and proud. Get over it!' mimicking the style of Stonewall's: 'Some people are gay. Get over it' advertising campaign which has run recently.
London buses have been booked to carry a Christian advertising campaign expected to start next week, which asserts the power of therapy to change the sexual orientation of gay people.
The full length advert, which will appear on five different routes in the capital, is backed by the Core Issues Trust whose leader, Mike Davies, believes "homoerotic behaviour is sinful". His charity funds "reparative therapy" for gay Christians who believe that they have homosexual feelings but want to become straight. The campaign is also backed by Anglican Mainstream, an worldwide orthodox Anglican group whose supporters have equated homosexuality with alcoholism.
The advert will say: "Not gay! Post-gay, ex-gay and proud. Get over it!" Post-gay and ex-gay are terms used by Christians and some psychotherapists and psychiatrists to refer to homosexual people who have undergone spiritual or pastoral therapy and, according to an Anglican Mainstream definition, have "now left a homosexual lifestyle [and experienced] an increased emotional and sexual attraction to the opposite biological gender and possibly a reduction in or loss of same-sex attraction."
The buses are due to roll out on Monday morning on some of the most popular routes. They will be seen for two weeks travelling past St Paul's Cathedral, down Oxford Street, round Trafalgar Square and through Piccadilly Circus as well as across other parts of the capital.
The campaign is an explicit attempt to hit back at gay rights group Stonewall, which ran its own bus advert saying: "Some people are gay. Get over it." The Christian groups have used the same black, red and white colour scheme as Stonewall and accuses it of promoting the "false idea that there is indisputable scientific evidence that people are born gay".
The Rev Lynda Rose, a spokesperson for the UK branch of Anglican Mainstream said because her group adheres to scripture that all fornication outside marriage is prohibited, it believes that homosexuals are "not being fully the people God intended us to be".
It has sparked an angry response from gay rights campaigners.
The former Europe minister and gay ex-vicar, Chris Bryant MP, said the advert was cruel, particularly to teenagers struggling to come to terms with their sexuality, for promoting the idea that you could become "ex-gay".
"The emotional damage that is done to the individuals who try to suppress their sexuality, the women they marry and the children they might have is immeasurable," he said. "Most sane Christians believe that homosexuality is not a lifestyle or a choice but is a fact to be discovered or not. The pretence that homosexuality is something you can be weaned off in some way is a fundamental misunderstanding of the nature of creation."
Ben Summerskill, the chief executive of Stonewall, said the adverts were clearly homophobic and added: "The only reason some gay people might want to stop being gay is because of the prejudice of the people who are publishing the ad.
"The promotion of this voodoo therapy is hugely irresponsible given the damage that it appears to do to some people."
Attempts to "treat" or alter sexual orientation have been strongly condemned by leading medical organisations. The Royal College of Psychiatrists has warned that "so-called treatments of homosexuality create a setting in which prejudice and discrimination flourish" and concluded in 2010 that "there is no sound evidence that sexual orientation can be changed". The British Medical Association has also attacked "conversion therapy", a related field to reparation therapy, passing a motion asserting that it is "discredited and harmful to those 'treated' ".
Rose said therapies endorsed by Anglican Mainstream and Core Issues were not coercive and stressed that they are appropriate for people who want to change their sexual attractions, for example if they are married and are worried about the impact of a gay lifestyle on their children.
"Reparative therapy works to help men, who want to change their sexual orientation, naturally dissipate their homoerotic feelings and maximise their heterosexual potential," she said.
In a statement, Anglican Mainstream and Core Issues said Stonewall's slogan is "merely another attempt to close down the critical debate about being gay, and marriage 'equality' ". They accused Stonewall of riding roughshod over individuals who chose to "move out of homosexuality".
The statement continued: "Both organisations recognise the rights of individuals to identify as gay, and to live according to their own values. But by the same token, they believe individuals – such as married men and women unhappy with their homosexuality – should be supported in developing their heterosexual potential where this is the appropriate life choice for them … Current scientific research says there is no gay gene and that sexuality is far more fluid than has hitherto been thought."
Assuming that the campaign prompts complaints to the Advertising Standards Authority it is likely to be investigated against the advertising code rules relating to harm and offence and potentially to truthfulness and substantiation.
According to the code an advertisement must not contain content that is likely to cause serious or widespread offence. However the fact that a campaign is offensive to some people does not mean it will necessarily be banned.
"Particular care must be taken to avoid causing offence on the grounds of race, religion, gender, sexual orientation, disability or age," rule 4.1 of the code states. "Compliance will be judged on the context, medium, audience, product and prevailing standards"
The campaign could also prompt complaints about whether or not the statements that relate to "reparative therapy" – "post-gay, ex-gay" – can be substantiated by the Christian group.
Source
ASA form for registering a complaint about this ad
Update: Transport For London have just blocked this ad from appearing, saying "We don’t believe these ads reflect TfL’s commitment to a tolerant and inclusive London".
"reparative therapy"
It's not a choice not a sickness.
Again some people are gay, get over it
I'm guessing this sentence intends to mean 'you can get over homosexuality if you work hard to get over it, go cold turkey and join support groups- like with alcoholism', but it reads more like 'Homosexuality isn't against nature or part of your own nature, it's just an addiction- like alcoholism' the first time I saw it.
I can't decide which interpretation is more offensive.
Edited at 2012-04-12 06:13 pm (UTC)
They're likely unhappy with it because of bigoted assholes like you who promote that homosexuality is a sin and an evil, perverted lifestyle choice. There are so many things I want to say about this but I'm too angry right now to type it out coherently. I know firsthand the sort of damage messages like these can do to LGBT people, all I can manage right now is this...
All in all, I'm very glad these measures are not necessary since the ads have been blocked :D Nicely done TfL!
Given that I'm shipping him with random other male characters, it's very appropriate.
(warning: clueless, privileged hipster douchecanoes all over that article)
I hope either A) this was not a real ad, B) they get shot down and don't get to run it or C) that Stonewall can sue them for infringing on the design because it's obviously meant as a direct counterpoint to the pro-LGBT ads.
And yeah, they were made in direct opposition to the Stonewall ads. Although, tbh, I'd have mixed feelings about Stonewall sueing them (don't think it will happen, though), since that organisation is very transphobic :( (Edit: UK Stonewall, that is. I know there are other branches, which are not all as bad.)
Edited at 2012-04-12 08:05 pm (UTC)
Just like there's indisputable scientific evidence that your 'reparative therapy' works, perhaps?
Transport For London have just blocked this ad from appearing, saying "We don’t believe these ads reflect TfL’s commitment to a tolerant and inclusive London".
Good for them. If I lived in London, I would definitely patronize this company just for this alone.
The campaign is also backed by Anglican Mainstream, an worldwide orthodox Anglican group whose supporters have equated homosexuality with alcoholism.
I'm sorry, but the first thing I thought of was, 'I don't remember anyone getting killed because someone was Driving While Gay.'
It's bad enough they produced this homophobic bullshit - but to deliberately invoke the Stonewall ad to do it? Get me my Axe of Sernsible Persuasion, i must discuss this with them...
"it believes that homosexuals are "not being fully the people God intended us to be"."
And people wonder why I avoid Christianity
ETA: The reason some people are unhappy being LGBTQIA is because of the type of prejudice, bigotry, intolerance, and outright hatred that we often get, which is prompted by this sort of fuckery!
Edited at 2012-04-12 09:43 pm (UTC)
People are taking the piss out of you everyday. They butt into your life, take a cheap shot at you and then disappear. They leer at you from tall buildings and make you feel small. They make flippant comments from buses that imply you’re not sexy enough and that all the fun is happening somewhere else. They are on TV making your girlfriend feel inadequate. They have access to the most sophisticated technology the world has ever seen and they bully you with it. They are The Advertisers and they are laughing at you.
You, however, are forbidden to touch them. Trademarks, intellectual property rights and copyright law mean advertisers can say what they like wherever they like with total impunity.
Fuck that. Any advert in a public space that gives you no choice whether you see it or not is yours. It’s yours to take, re-arrange and re-use. You can do whatever you like with it. Asking for permission is like asking to keep a rock someone just threw at your head.
You owe the companies nothing. Less than nothing, you especially don’t owe them any courtesy. They owe you. They have re-arranged the world to put themselves in front of you. They never asked for your permission, don’t even start asking for theirs.
I think it applies here too. I'm glad they won't be running, but if they were I would heartily encourage defacing them, especially crossing out key words to make it read GAY GAY GAY AND PROUD
This was my first thought. BRING OUT THE SPRAY PAINT
Then I read this bullshit. These christian 'gay therapy' fuckers make me want to punch a wall. And I'm usually sweet and completely non violent.
it believes that homosexuals are "not being fully the people God intended us to be"
I'd truly love to come face to face with one of these arsewipes so we could have a little chat.
This gif is getting so much usage recently.
But I'm stuck on the confusing grammar. It's bad even allowing that this is an ad and doesn't have to follow traditional rules.