Movie theater bans film about ex-gays being bullied into silence

A cinema has canceled a non-profit’s scheduled premiere of its film about people who have voluntarily changed their homosexual behavior and are silenced for speaking about it. 

Core Issues Trust, a Christian group that helps people who experience unwanted same-sex attraction, had arranged for Voices of the Silenced: Experts, Evidences and Ideologies to be screened at the Vue Cinema at London’s Piccadilly Circus on Thursday at 7:00 p.m.

The cinema sent Dr. Michael Davidson, the head of Core Issues Trust, an email today telling him the theater “will not be able to fulfil the final terms of the agreement” because they have “the right to refrain from providing screening services up to the point of any pre-booked screening.”

“This is a very important film raising public awareness about difficult issues faced by a whole category of vulnerable people, and we are very disappointed that the screening has been cancelled at the last moment,” said Davidson.

Voices of the Silenced was filmed over two years in eight countries. People from all around the world were scheduled to attend its premiere.

The pro-LGBT website Pink News wrote a story about the scheduled film showing, blasting the notion that people may “change” anything about their gay identity. It cited English politicians and public figures who want to make it illegal for therapists to help patients achieve their desired goals as related to leaving homosexuality.

Then, the screening was canceled.

On its website and in its mission statement, Core Issues Trust stresses that it works with people who voluntarily seek its services.

“Very often people who are coming out of relationships or sexual practices that they have been hurt by, have nowhere to go,” the charity says on its website. “They might feel isolated and have suffered the loss of connections with other people who were an important support structure. Not only that, but sometimes they find the help offered to them by loved-ones, the church or professionals doesn't reflect the values or desires that are motivating their need to change their lifestyles.”

At Core Issues Trust, “clients have the right to a safe space for self-exploration and self-determination with a therapist who honours their freely chosen values.”

The film interviews 15 people who left the homosexual lifestyle. It “challenges the closedown of the debate about the value of therapeutic support to these people in ways that are respectful of clients and individual rights to change,” Christian Concern said in a press release.

Voices of the Silenced examines today’s sexual politics and the ideological basis for trying to ban certain types of therapy. It compares the sexual ideologies of the Greco-Roman world with today’s prevailing opinions on sexuality, which Christian Concern said is “the re-emergence of pansexual humanist values in the modern era.”

The film also highlights how Judeo-Christian values have influenced sexual ethics throughout history.

“Our journey will remind us of some of the key memories in both ancient and modern history to help us discern the destructive drivers of sexual politics that underscore both homosexual and Islamic radicalism,” the filmmakers say on their website.

The Christian Legal Centre is supporting Core Issues Trust. It is considering asking the High Court for an injunction or “taking action against Vue under the Equality Act 2010.”

“Ironically, the actions of PinkNews and Vue cinema illustrate the point of the film. The Voices of the Silenced are, in fact, being silenced,” said Andrea Minichiello Williams, CEO of the Christian Legal Centre.

“This is fundamentally a free speech issue,” she said. “As usual, a minority of gay activists use threats and intimidation to shut down any opposing views. Tragically, they can’t tolerate the truth that there are significant numbers of men and women who have no wish to remain in a gay lifestyle and seek help to leave it.”

“At the moment we intend to go to the cinema tomorrow and we intend to watch the film,” said Williams. “We intend to encourage everyone that has a ticket to turn up.”