Patrick Pullicino’s  opinion piece on today’s issue of the newspaper (read here: http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20150826/opinion/the-ethics-of-gay-conversion.581963) shocked and disgusted me. Masquerading as an objective analysis of ‘gay conversion’ – I thought we had all agreed this is not actually a thing? – Mr Pullicino’s piece reads like it is taken straight out of a medieaval Malta, when witch-doctors ruled the day and rhino testicles were used to cure anything from the common cold to gangrene.

But, apart from all the pseudo-scientific rhetoric and the highly-annoying tone of the writing (which has more than a whiff of ‘subject 1’ and ‘subject 9999’ when referring to homosexuals), Mr Pullicino reaches the pits by the way he reintroduces an idea that anyone with a shred of decency gave up long ago – he sneakily tries to make us believe that homosexuality is a disease, by continuously referring to it as Same Sex Attraction, even going as far as to give it the acronym, SSA. Just to make it sound that little bit more legit, as though he were referring to just another medical condition.

Well, Mr Pullicino, we are not stupid. No matter how many acronyms you throw about, we recognise SSA for what it is – a fake disorder invented by those who, to this day, remain prejudiced with respect to homosexuality. We already have a word for those who are attracted to people of the same sex. It is called being homosexual, and it is not a medical disorder. It just is. And most homosexuals will thank you not to attempt to cure them from an imagined disease.

But, just in case anyone is tempted to fall for this rhetoric that would have homosexual people participate in ‘studies’ and ‘experiments’, for all the world like they are poor chimpanzees in one of those horrible animal labs, here are some facts about this supposed SSA.

SSA is not accepted anywhere in the world, no matter how much research Mr Pullicino unearths. If you attempt to mention the words homosexuality and medical disorder in the same sentence anywhere in the UK, France, the US, Italy or wherever, you stand a good chance of a friendly visit by your local constabulary. Because guess what, the civilised world realises that attempting to convince someone that they have a medical disorder when they have no such thing is fraud. Yes, fraud. Doesn’t sound quite so fancy to throw around acronyms now, does it?

Just ask the Jews Offering Alternatives for Healing centre in New Jersey, which last June was forced to fork out over $70,000 for fraud, after been found guilty of consumer fraud for offering to cure people with same sex attraction.

It is clear that some individuals suffer from having SSA, Mr Pullicino writes. And that there is also particular suffering and even attempted suicide associated with telling a person that they cannot change their SSA.

Mr Pullicino is perfect correct in stating this. What he omits to mention is the fact that some people suffer from being homosexual not because it is a medical disorder. They suffer because of people like him, who try to convince them that something is wrong with them and that they should be cured.

If everyone minded their own business and didn’t take a prurient interest in other people’s sexuality, no-one would be ‘suffering from SSA’.

For shame. The fact that all this comes from a professor of neuro-science makes the whole thing even more sickening.