Texas preacher Tom Brown is misusing Biblical scriptures when he spreads his belief that homosexuality is a mental illness he can cure, according to Drachma, the group for gay people and their parents.
“It is a pity that sacred texts are misused to exclude and cause undue harm to people,” Drachma said in reaction to Mr Brown’s claims.
He was in Malta last weekend to address a three-day conference at Christian Fellowship River of Love.
The Malta Gay Rights Movement called on the authorities to outlaw any “therapy” that sought to cure homosexuality. A government spokesman said it was looking into various legal models to outlaw “conversion therapy”.
Drachma yesterday said: “Mr Brown continues to propagate pseudo theories on the origins of homosexuality that have no scientific basis.”
Eleven members of the Willingness team – made up of counsellors, social workers, family therapists and psychiatrists among other professionals – supported Drachma’s views.
Homosexuality is not a mental illness
Attributing homosexuality to a treatable mental health problem had been disproven repeatedly in research and therapy experience, it said.
The Malta Union of Professional Psychologists said Mr Brown’s views did not reflect the latest understandings of psychological research and science.
“Homosexuality is not a mental illness but a different expression of the sexual diversity,” the union said.
Alternattiva Demokratika spokeswoman on gay rights, Angele Deguara, said Mr Brown’s sermons sent the wrong message to gay people and their families who may still be trying to deal with personal as well as social issues related to their sexual orientation or gender identity.
Mr Brown has been accused in the US of spreading hate speech. He believes abstinence, or what he calls repentance, is the antidote to homosexuality, which he says is triggered by molestation, poor parental relationships or failure to fit in with same-sex peers.
His theory, however, has been strongly refuted by the scientific community, with the World Health Organisation and the American Psychological Association both insisting that sexual orientation is not caused by anything at all.