Outrage as the BBC asks if gays should be cured
(Getty)
BBC has launched a Twitter poll asking if gay ‘cure’ therapy is acceptable, enraging the public.
The poll asked people to vote on whether or not they thought gay conversion therapy was “acceptable practice”.
BBC Radio Kent tweeted: “TV Doctor Dr Ranj has told breakfast gay conversion therapy is akin to psychological abuse; Should gay conversion therapy be banned?”
People could either vote for “Yes, it should be banned” or “It’s acceptable practice”.
Gay conversion therapy is a set of practices intended to change a person’s sexuality or gender identity.
These practices include talk therapy and electroshock therapy.
Understandably, many people were not happy with the tweet, and quickly took to Twitter to express their anger.
One said: “It’s shocking that you’re putting this to a poll. Have some sense.”
Another dubbed the tweet “reprehensible.”
They called out BBC Radio Kent for what they saw as debating whether homosexual people deserve basic human rights.
And one person even suggested that they delete their account.
This is not the first time the radio station has come under fire online.
The director of the BBC World Service issued an apology in 2009 for the offence caused by asking readers to debate whether gays should be executed.
They also posted another poll recently discussing whether ‘black face’ is acceptable when done for charity.
In a statement, a Stonewall spokesperson said: “It’s shocking and deeply disappointing that the BBC launched a public poll asking if so-called ‘conversion therapy’ is acceptable.
“LGBT people aren’t ill.
“Being gay, lesbian, bi or trans is not something that should be ‘cured’ or changed.
“This harmful and degrading practice has been condemned by major health organisations,” they added.
“It’s unbelievable that the BBC think this is a suitable topic for discussion or believe it’s appropriate for an online opinion poll.”
The original tweet containing the conversion therapy poll has been deleted from BBC Radio Kent’s Twitter account.
And the BBC has apologised for the tweet, saying: “The discussion on Radio Kent’s Breakfast show was prompted by the PM’s condemnation this week of the controversial practice which is growing in the UK.
“We were asking our listeners whether it should actually be made illegal. But we accept that the poll was not the most appropriate way of dealing with this sensitive issue.”
