Brexit party leader Nigel Farage has defended MEP Ann Widdecombe’s support for gay conversion therapy and her recent comments where she said science may yet find a cure for homosexuality.
Appearing on British television Farage said as party leader it was not his role to condemn the comments, arguing that Widdecombe was justified in saying them because of her devout Christians beliefs.
“These things are matters of conscience, I don’t think they are matters for party leaders to support or condemn,” Farage told Good Morning Britain on Tuesday.
“Ann Widdecombe is a devout Christian and there is nothing wrong with that, in my opinion.” he added.
Farage said many Muslim people had beliefs about gay people that were more extreme than Widdecombe’s and he believed the media was unjustly hounding her.
“If we start to attack and condemn people because of religious conscience we are going to cause all sorts of problems, not just with Roman Catholics but with many many others of Muslim faith who have even stronger feelings on this subject than Ann Widdecombe.
“What’s intolerant is when the pack mentality decides that a certain group of people have a view that is not acceptable in the mainstream and they should be hounded out of public office for having a different point of view.”
Widdecombe was previously a member of the Conservative Party serving in the British parliament from 1987 until 2010. Last week she returned to politics and was elected to the European Parliament as a member of the Brexit Party.
The MP has a long history of opposing LGBTI rights and has previously voiced her opposition to lowering the age of consent and repealing Britain’s Section 28 legislation which stopped local authorities mentioning LGBTI people and homosexuality. She was also a vocal opponent of marriage equality.
The controversy kicked off when Widdecombe made an appearance on Sky News UK. Widdecombe was asked about a 2012 article where she argued that conversion therapy should be made available to people who are “unhappy homosexuals”.
The newly elected MEP said if people were willing to accept that gender transition was possible, they should also accept that science may one day be able to remove homosexuality.
Discussing her previous article Widdecombe said, “I also pointed out there was a time when we thought it was quite impossible for men to become women and vice versa.
“And the fact we now think it’s quite impossible for people to switch sexuality doesn’t mean science may not yet produce an answer at some stage.”
Widdecombe said she didn’t believe that there were currently any practices that successfully change people’s sexuality, but we shouldn’t rule out searching for a pathway.
“I’ve never claimed that such science already exists… I’ve merely said that if you simply rule out the possibility of it, you’re denying people confused about their sexuality the chance [to change it].”
OIP Staff
