The UKs “Gay Cure” Doctor explains his situation on Homophobia and Free Speech

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Check out the full 2 minute video here at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=30sWRSGDvgU&feature=youtu.be



“Gay cure is dismissive, and equates to flipping some kind of switch… but the reality is, it’s seldom that black and white”.

Good_Morning_Britain_Logo_2017Instantly at the start of this interview I knew I was going to be on some kind of interesting journey and I was not disappointed. In September of 2017 ITV’s Good Morning Britain brought on one of their most controversial guests to date with Doctor Michael Davidson.

The media have labelled him as the UK’s “Gay Cure” doctor, LGBT groups label him many other false terms, but after this interview I call him a man who simply has an opinion society dislikes. Doctor Michael Davidson works for the group Core Issues Trust, an apparent Gay Therapy centre which has had claims of curing homosexuality and believing the act is sinful but Doctor Davidson himself highly disagrees.

Dr Davidson himself dislikes the term gay cure which is used by the media with him explaining to me that “Gay cure is an issue for us, as it assumes a medical model that there is some kind of disease that needs a cure”, he even stated that it is not an ideal he or his groups owns and that “some people leave the center fully identifying as Homosexual” showing that he acknowledges that some people can be and are gay.

He also stated that he “understands why people make the claim he is Homophobic”, also stating that he is constantly around LGBT people and used to be one himself, he has no issue with LGBT people, which I would accept since he agreed to do this interview with me and expressed no dislike of me or my lifestyle.

This lead me on to question him about the way people speak about groups like his, with the ITV interview being the main part of the conversation, specifically Picture3about Patrick Studwick who works for Buzzfeed. Mr Strudwick stated Core Issues Trust and Doctor Michael Davidson should not have been given airtime, with Doctor Davidson stating that is “the issue”, and that groups like his are “not allowed to be heard” which makes me wonder. What is the point of Freedom of Speech?

Doctor Davidson expressed thanks towards me multiple times for just allowing him to speak his mind, something that is very rare for him. Which brings me to the conclusion that there is definitely some kind of stigma against Doctor Davidson and his group which has been unfairly gained through interviewers not allowing him to explain his own views. It may also be that he has learnt how to talk smoother during interviews after that incident. Maybe the whole time I was being played but I don’t believe that. One thing I do believe though is that Doctor Michael Davidson is not a “gay cure” doctor, and just a man with a different view.

The Las Vegas Shooting and it’s Aftermath

What Actually Happened?

Picture1On October 1st 2017 Stephen Paddock opened fire on the Route 91 Harvest Country music festival audience in Las Vegas. Paddock had over 23 guns in his hotel room and 19 more back home, with main weapon used being an illegal automatic weapon with a custom scope and bipod. Police have stated it is also possible the weapon was customised with a bump stock which allows for rapid fire.

He claimed 59 lives and injured over 500 more, one of which was in a 2 week coma, but with the weapon used there was a surprisingly low death doll since there was over 20,000 people at the concert. But even so, it is being known as the worst Mass Shooting in modern day American history with no current motive for Paddock doing the shooting with his brother even stating “he didn’t know he owned a gun”

Why did it happen?

Current theories include ISIS, who claimed responsability for the attack (which has been disproven by the FBI with no links proven). The possibility of an undiagnosed mental illness. Poddock was a secret gun enthusiast who had a mental breakdown (which his brother has denied). Rumours state he wished to be famous and this was the only way he knew how and some internet conspiracy theories which include the Illuminati and Poddock being brainwashed.

Clearly targeted

Picture2Being at the Mandalay Bay Resort, it helps the theory that Paddock knew exactly what he was aiming for. With so many other famous areas such as the Sphinx statue, Las Vegas Boulevard and the Luxor Hotel also in view, it shows that he only wished to target the concert for a currently unknown reason.

The Aftermath

Currently Las Vegas is having a dip in its Tourism with some Casinos seeing about a tenth the amount of people they usually see, this along with the strip is a lot quieter then usual, with some parts still blocked off by police, showing the strong negative effects this has already left on Las Vegas’ tourism industry. The FBI and heavily armed security forces are on high alert, guarding elevators and doing strong security checks, with the main question being how long wil that last for? But the main aftermath is that 59 families have to cope with the loss of a loved one with over 500 people having injuries which could effect their whole lives as well as approximately 20% of emergency service staff who helped out during the tragedy being treated for PTSD along with many concert goers (both injured and uninjured) also being treated.

How to help prevent this happening again?

Currently Nevada does not have good background checks and you only need one if you get a store bought weapon whilst weapons privately bought off friends or neighbours does not require a background check, and it is not mandatory in Nevada to be on an official register for possessing a firearm. With the United States owning 42% of 650 million civilian firearms worldwide (273 million approximately), and even though automatic weapons are mostly banned, simple and legal customisations can allow single shot weapons to fire the same as automatics.

Donald TrumpThis should probably be discussed, with President Trump acknowledging gun laws should be spoken about more, but also stating it would be as a much later time. Trump also stated the attack was pure evil which many have stated was hypocritical of him, since other shootings with Muslim or Islamic shooters led to Trumps Muslim Ban, whilst this shooting won’t even be properly acknowledged because of the Second Amendment Rights.

 

Sources

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/05/us/nra-vegas-shooting.html?smid=tw-share
http://abcnews.go.com/US/27-year-victim-las-vegas-shooting-wakes-coma/story?id=50490156
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2017/10/03/what-gun-used-las-vegas-shooting/726743001/
https://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/las-vegas-shooting/las-vegas-police-investigating-shooting-mandalay-bay-n806461
http://edition.cnn.com/interactive/2017/10/us/las-vegas-shooting-victims/
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-41479011
https://www.reviewjournal.com/news/politics-and-government/trump-unlikely-to-dwell-on-las-vegas-shooting-for-long/
https://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/las-vegas-shooting/las-vegas-first-responders-deal-emotional-aftermath-mass-shooting-n807656