UKIP MEP Roger Helmer Says NHS Should Fund 'Gay Cure Therapy'

UKIP MEP Thinks Gay People Can Be 'Fixed'
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Roger Helmer, who is standing in the Newark by-election this week, suggested it is no different to treating trans-gender people.

He told the Daily Mail: "One person is unhappy with their physical sex and wants to change it and we say, ‘OK you can do it’.

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Roger Helmer

"You have a homosexual who says, ‘I’m homosexual, actually I’d rather be straight, is there a way of fixing it?’

"We say to the person who wants to change from a man to a woman or vice versa, ‘Please do that on the NHS’.

"We say to this guy, ‘That’s wicked, you’re not allowed to think about it’."

He also added that same-sex marriages should not be treated with the same respect as traditional marriages.

Helmer is already known for his dubious views on gay people saying it was okay for people to find homosexuality "distasteful if not viscerally repugnant".

Further, when asked if immigration has benefits he replied: "‘I like Indian restaurants too."

On Monday, Helmer published a letter he had sent to the Mail on Sunday to complain about the interview and insist he does not think the NHS should pay for 'gay cure' therapy.

Nigel Farage has previously defended Helmer, saying: "Roger Helmer is fighting this by-election for us; he’s somebody of 70 years of age who grew up with a strong Christian Bible background; he grew up in an age when homosexuality was actually imprisonable, and he had a certain set of views which he maintained for many years which he now says he accepts the world’s moved on and he’s relaxed about.

"As I say, when Roger grew up and, indeed, when he was an adult, homosexuality was illegal in this country, and he held that view for some period of time.

"And actually, if we asked the 70s and over in this country how they felt about it, most of them still feel uncomfortable."