Wacky Iris is at it agin in UK: Gay lifestyle is 'abomination' not a mental disorder

Stormont Health committee chair Iris Robinson last night accused her political rivals of twisting her comments on homosexuality and denied she believed it was a mental disorder.

The Strangford MP reiterated her claim that she considered gay sex a sin and an abomination but said it was not her opinion that it was a mental health issue.

The wife of First Minister Peter Robinson has faced calls to step down from her committee post after her comments on a radio talkshow last month.

After condemning a homophobic attack on a gay man in her constituency, Mrs Robinson had gone on to criticise the practice of homosexuality and claimed certain men who were confused about their orientation had chosen a heterosexual lifestyle after undergoing counselling.

Mrs Robinson yesterday attempted to clarify her position to the Assembly after Health Minister Michael McGimpsey explained that it was accepted within international psychiatric and psychotherapy circles that homosexuality was not a mental disorder.

Alliance North Down member Stephen Farry has asked the minister to confirm that homosexuality was biologically determined and not something that needed a cure.

Mrs Robinson said: "People have attempted to suggest that I indicated that homosexuality was a mental health issue. Nothing could be further from the truth. What I did say was homosexuality, like all sin, is an abomination. "

Gay lifestyle is ‘abomination’ not a mental disorder: Iris
Belfast Telegraph, United Kingdom