Demented Catholic unleashes a fresh round of homophobia

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ANN Noreen Widdecombe’s re-entry into political life as a Brexit MEP at the age of 71 got off to a rocky start at the weekend when she suggested that science might one day find a cure for homosexuality.

According to RationalWiki, the former Conservative MP who converted to Catholicism in 1993, is an ardent “family values” advocate, an admirer of the the late Mary Whitehouse, a supporter of the death sentence – and an implacable opponent of gay rights.

After leaving politics in 2010, the demented Widdecombe tried to reinvent herself as a media personality but pretty much sank into obscurity until she announced her intention to stand for election in South West England for the Brexit Party – and won! Which speaks volumes about the bigotry of those who voted for Nigel Farage’s newly-minted party.

But her success was overshadowed by a firestorm that erupted around her after she reiterated her beliefs that homosexuality could be “cured” – and that science might one day devise such a cure.

According to this report, her comments “sparked major fury”, causing social media to “erupt”.

The BBC said:

It will be deeply disappointing to the UK’s LGBT community that elected representatives, and people with large public platforms not only hold these views but actively promote them.

ITV News’ political correspondent Paul Brand explained that he has investigated “so called gay ‘cure’ therapies” and “you won’t find a single medical, psychiatric or psychological body that thinks science can provide an ‘answer’ to it”.

Politicians have rounded on Widdecombe. Conservative MP Justine Greening tweeted:

We don’t need a cure for love.

The former Tory MP Nick Boles said:

If only science could produce an answer to the blight of poisonous bigotry that is Ann Widdecombe.

Also taking to Twitter, the Labour MP Luke Pollard wrote:

Utterly ashamed to be represented by this vile woman. Being gay isn’t a disease to be cured.

The gay Labour MP Wes Streeting added:

Ann Widdecombe is a relic from a bygone era, whose petty prejudices are out of touch with the vast majority in Britain.

And Stephen Doughty, the co-chair of the LGBT+ Parliamentary Labour Party, asked:

Surely Nigel Farage will now be suspending her from the Brexit Party and removing the party whip?

The Mayor of London Sadiq Khan also joined the fray, saying Widdecombe was “peddling homophobic nonsense”.

Actor Stephen Fry asked:

But will science ever find an answer to Anne Widdecombe?

In 2000 the “Widders” creature told MPs she “rejected” the idea “that there is somehow equal validity between the homosexual lifestyle and marriage and family”.

In 2012, she blamed the “homosexual lobby” for “turning all its fire” on conversion therapy. She has also supported chaining pregnant prisoners, and described women’s pension age activists as “self-indulgent and entitled.”