NI man: I trod the same path as Phillip Schofield but did not come out as gay

Earlier this month Mr Schofield, who has two daughters with wife Stephanie Lowe, received an outpouring of public support after he came out as gay on ‘This Morning’.

Now Mike Davidson from Hillsborough, a campaigner for people who faced the same dilemma as he did, has opened up about what he sees as the similarities – and stark differences – in their stories.

“I am thankful for the professionals who worked with me who respected my goal of resolving conflicting feelings that has allowed be to remain married for 41 years,” he said.

“Whereas once I longed for an emotional, sexual and romantic connection with a person of the same sex, I no longer have such longings.

“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 believes he experienced homosexual feelings, in part, because of a poor relationship with his father as a child. He also thinks the professionals who helped him would be removed from their professions if they did so today.

“There is an appalling determination to promote LGBT ideology at the expense of people’s lives. If Philip Schofield is allowed to celebrate his choice, people who leave unwanted same-sex attractions should also be celebrated.”

He challenges the view that homosexual feelings are “hard-wired” and that anyone who experiences them later in life “must have repressed them”.

Increasingly, he said, those who contact his organisation, Core Issues Trust, and the International Federation for Therapeutic and Counselling Choice, reject that perspective.

“These are individuals who see homosexual feelings as a threat to their desire to remain married, to be a faithful spouse or a parent who remains in the home as the best environment for raising children.

“Such individuals find that over time, as they meet the unmet emotional needs for connection, behind homosexual desires, same-sex or homosexual feelings dissipate. They work to free themselves from anything that further entrenches their fantasies and over time see a change in their sexual patterning.”

He noted recent research led by Andrea Ganna found a very small link between genetics and homosexuality in large samples of people.

“Far more research needs to be done to understand this complex phenomena,” he added.

Mr Davidson was speaking after Relate NI’s chief executive told the News Letter that Phillip Schofield’s story ‘is not that uncommon in NI’.