Mike Davidson of Core Issues Trust

An article in Belfast newspaper the News Letter has suggested that the widely discredited practice of conversion therapy can successfully change a person’s sexual orientation.

In the article, which was published yesterday, Mike Davidson said he was “thankful” to the “professionals” who helped him to overcome the same-sex desire he felt earlier in his life.

Davidson runs an organisation called Core Issues Trust, which claims to help people change their sexual orientation. The practice of conversion therapy has been condemned by various medical and psychiatric bodies across the world, but this is mentioned nowhere in the News Letter article.

Furthermore, a UK survey conducted last year found that one in five people who had been through conversion therapy later attempted suicide, a fact the News Letter also failed to mention.

Mike Davidson claimed he ‘no longer’ experiences same-sex attraction after conversion therapy in newspaper article.

In the article, Mike Davidson said he once “longed for an emotional, sexual and romantic connection with a person of the same sex,” but said he “no longer” has such feelings.

“My change has meant I have been able to fulfil my desire to remain with my wife and family and to enjoy a full and complete relationship with my wife and our children,” he continued.

The article goes on to claim that Davidson experienced same-sex attraction because of his poor relationship with his father as a child.