Chukwuemeka ‘Emeka’ Edwin-Nweze, a highly praised leader in the field of disability services has defended comments he made stating that being gay is a mental illness.
Edwin-Nweze is the director and CEO of Neta Care, a company that provides services to over 1,200 people on the National Disability Insurance Scheme, and he’s often been highlighted as a role model for leadership in the sector. In 2024 The Courier Mail listed him as one of the 25 most influential African Australians.
After an online backlash and calls for a boycott of the company, Edwin-Nweze has issued an apology, but stressed his beliefs were of a personal nature, and he is not a medical professional.
The health boss was questioned on his beliefs after he posted a deep-fake video of US President Donald Trump to his LinkedIn profile. The video showed the US President making disparaging comments about people who are gay or transgender.
When followers questioned the authenticity of the video at first Edwin-Nweze said he had not watched it all the way through, and said he had posted it because he through it had a funny line about conspiracy theories. A follower then asked him if he thought being “gay” and “retarded” – words used in the video – were the same.
The health boss said he was not a medical professional, but he believed being gay was like a mental illness because it was “unnannutal”. His comments were reported in The Daily Telegraph.
When people reacted online he said his right to religious beliefs and free speech was being attacked.
“The internet mob is coming for me. They want me cancelled, silenced, discredited. I say let them come.
“I hold personal beliefs that align with my faith and convictions, and I will be loud and proud about those every single day. I am entitled to my opinions like anyone else, and I have the right to free speech.” Edwin-Nweze wrote.
LGBTIQA+ rights advocate raises concern over the comments
Traidy Bugeja – Naidoo, the Executive Director of Chosen Family, was one of the people who raised concern about the comments. In his own LinkedIn post the LGBTIQA+ rights advocate said the comments were “deeply alarming”.
“As someone working in the disability and community sector, I am profoundly disheartened to see such words come from a health provider. Statements like this are not only discriminatory but also dangerous. They perpetuate stigma, shame, and exclusion for some of the most vulnerable members of our community.” he said.
He suggested that health professionals who had referred clients to Neta Care should be concerned, and review their practices in dealing with the agency.
“The psychological harm caused to LGBTQIA+ people, especially those living with disability, by organisations that deny their dignity and humanity is immeasurable. In a space where individuals are already vulnerable, the last thing we need are men building empires that harm and discriminate. You have the power to actively safeguard someone’s civil rights and humanity.” he said.
Edwin-Nweze hits back in apology video
On LinkedIn he criticised Bugeja-Naidoo for calling for a boycott of the company, saying it was the opposite of promoting inclusion.
“…while lecturing me about ‘inclusion,’ he openly campaigns for my exclusion, my silencing, and the dismantling of an organisation that continues to provide care across every background, identity, and belief system. That is not inclusion. That is coercion dressed up as virtue.”
Edwin-Nweze continued his response releasing a video again stating that his personal beliefs had never compromised the treatment and care of people engaging with his company. In his message to staff and clients the CEO said his comments were maybe not made in the best wording or on the appropriate platform.
“I made a post on my professional page on LinkedIn over the last little while and I made some comments that was was based on me responding to a baited conversation where I likened, I made a suggestion, that while I’m not a medical professional and can’t necessarily comment on the matters of sexual preferences, I stated that it seemed to me that it was linked to mental, as it simply seems unnatural to me.”
Edwin-Nweze said he was now offering an apology because he’d come to realise that many people had found his comments to be “unkind”.
“When i made the comments there was no intention to have anyone feel hurt, or target, or marginalize, or look down, or talk down, or speak down to anyone who is of any belief system or is of any preference sexual or otherwise in life.” he said.
The CEO said his comments were made in a personal capacity about his beliefs and has no bearing on the work he does.
In a follow up interview with News Corp papers Edwin-Nweze said calls for a boycott of his company had already had an effect and he felt responsible to his clients, and the 500 staff who work for Neta Care.
Homosexuality was removed from being a mental illness in 1973
While homosexuality was once classed as a mental illness it’s been decades since that was the case. The American Psychological Association removed same-sex attraction from its list of mental disorders in 1973.
The Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists (RANZCP) issued a formal position stating that homosexuality was not an illness and that attempts to “cure” it were unethical.
The World Health Organisation removed homosexuality from its International Classification of Diseases (ICD) in 1990. Each year the anniversary of the WHO decision is marked by IDAHOBIT celebrations, the Internal Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia and Intersexphobia.
OUTinPerth has reached out to Chukwuemeka Edwin-Nweze and Neta Care for additional comment.
