Latest news with #homosexuality
Daily Mail
19 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Gay man wins five-figure payout after Church of England gave him 'exorcism' to try and turn him straight
A gay man has won a five-figure payout after he received an 'exorcism' at a Church of England parish in an attempt to try and turn him straight. Matthew Drapper, 37, was volunteering at St Thomas Philadelphia, Sheffield, in 2014 when he was told he had come under 'demonic possession' due to his 'sexual impurity'. He had been in attendance at a weekend event held at the church when a husband and wife told him that performing the ritual would rid him of his homosexuality, thus releasing demons from his body. During the exorcism, the couple, who were prayer leaders at the church, stood over him and said he had to 'break agreements with Hollywood and the media' as these were causing him to have gay feelings. Mr Drapper said when looking back 'it seems like something out of a horror movie' and that the encounter left him 'empty' and in a state of depression. He told The Times: 'For someone to be standing over you saying they can see the demons leaving your body is quite terrifying. But when you are deeply tied into the church, as I was at that time, it is easy to believe anything they tell you.' Mr Drapper said this caused him to lose his Christian faith over time and led him to leave the church in 2016 before he made a formal complaint three years later. He had requested an apology from the church but they initially claimed there was 'no evidence to substantiate' the claims - leading the Diocese of Sheffield, in agreement with Mr Drapper, to request Barnardo's charity to investigate in 2021. A review published by Barnardo's last year said Mr Drapper's claims were a 'supported fact' which they say 'was in our view a form of exorcism'. An extract of the report read: 'From the evidence available to us it is our view that the session took place as described by [Mr Drapper] and prayers were administered with the intention of changing his sexual identity.' Mr Drapper then launched a legal claim against St Thomas Philadelphia which resulted in the five-figure payout. After receiving an out-of-court settlement, he said he 'would have liked to have this matter heard in open court' but was told by insurers that his claim was beyond the legal time limit and that any processes lodged would be 'lengthy'. Representing Mr Drapper, Richard Scorer said his client's victory 'demonstrates that churches which engage in these abhorrent homophobic practices may face legal claims and damages awards'. After the Barnardo's review was published, the church said: 'We have accepted the outcomes of the first investigation and are saddened that eight years ago one of our community was not cared for in the way we would have liked. We sincerely apologised to them for this.'
The Guardian
a day ago
- The Guardian
Gay man subjected to ‘exorcism' at Sheffield church receives compensation
A gay man has been paid compensation from a Church of England parish after he was subjected to an 'exorcism' to purge him of his homosexuality, it has been reported. Matthew Drapper, 37, was a volunteer at St Thomas Philadelphia, a joint Anglican-Baptist congregation in Sheffield, in 2014 when he was invited to an 'encounter God weekend' at the 'contemporary, welcoming church', the Times reported. Drapper was told 'sexual impurity' had allowed demons to enter his body and that an exorcism was to be performed. During the incident he was instructed to 'break agreements with Hollywood and the media' that led him into an ungodly lifestyle. He said he was left deeply distressed after the exorcism, which was conducted by a married couple who were 'prayer leaders'. He felt so depressed and 'empty' that he considered taking his own life. Drapper told the Times: 'Looking back it seems like something out of a horror movie – for someone to be standing over you saying they can see the demons leaving your body is quite terrifying. But when you are deeply tied into the church, as I was at that time, it is easy to believe anything they tell you.' He left the church in 2016 and three years later made a formal complaint about the exorcism and requested an apology from St Thomas Philadelphia, which was supposed to operate under the safeguarding rules of the diocese of Sheffield. St Thomas initially claimed there was no evidence to the complaint but after Drapper pursued the issue, in 2021 the church commissioned Barnardo's to investigate. Last year, the charity published its review, which found it was a 'supported fact' that Drapper was subjected to a prayer session that 'was in our view a form of exorcism'. After publication of the review, Drapper made a legal claim against St Thomas Philadelphia which resulted in an out-of-court settlement and payment of a five-figure sum. The Guardian has contacted St Thomas Philadelphia for comment. After publication of the Barnardo's report, the church said: 'We have accepted the outcomes of the first investigation and are saddened that one of our community was not cared for in the way we would have liked. We sincerely apologised to them for this.'
Telegraph
2 days ago
- Telegraph
Gay man wins payout over church ‘exorcism'
A gay man has won a five-figure payout from a Church of England parish where he was given an exorcism to rid him of homosexuality. Matthew Drapper, 37, was a volunteer at St Thomas Philadelphia, a joint Anglican-Baptist congregation in Sheffield, in 2014 when the exorcism took place. His compensation is believed to be the first of its kind. Mr Drapper, who is no longer a Christian, was told by a couple at a church event that he had come under 'demonic possession' because of 'sexual impurity'. The husband and wife, who were responsible for praying for members of the congregation, said they could see 'demons leaving' his body during the resultant exorcism. 'Something out of a horror movie' Mr Drapper told The Times: 'Looking back, it seems like something out of a horror movie – for someone to be standing over you saying they can see the demons leaving your body is quite terrifying. 'But when you are deeply tied into the church, as I was at that time, it is easy to believe anything they tell you.' Mr Drapper said that the experience left him feeling 'empty' and that he considered taking his own life. He left the church in 2016 and said he had 'lost my Christian faith because of this'. Mr Drapper made a formal complaint in 2019 but the church said there was 'no evidence to substantiate' his complaint. In 2021, the Diocese of Sheffield commissioned an investigation by Barnardo's, the children's charity. The review concluded last year that it was a 'supported fact' that Mr Drapper was subject to a prayer session, which was 'in our view a form of exorcism'. It found: 'From the evidence available to us it is our view that the session took place as described by [Mr Drapper] and prayers were administered with the intention of changing his sexual identity.' Mr Drapper then launched legal action against the church, resulting in a five-figure out-of-court settlement. The 37-year-old said: 'You imagine this kind of practice to be outdated but it has been revived in recent decades and is often referred to as 'power healing'. 'I know around 20 people who have been through it but I suspected there are many, many more.' 'Abhorrent homophobic practices' Richard Scorer, Mr Drapper's lawyer, told The Times: 'As far as I am aware this is the first ever payment of damages in respect of harm caused by conversion or exorcism practices. 'It demonstrates that churches which engage in these abhorrent homophobic practices may face legal claims and damages awards, and I hope it will encourage churches to ban such practices entirely.' Following the publication of the Barnardo's report, St Thomas Philadelphia said: 'We have accepted the outcomes of the first investigation and are saddened that one of our community was not cared for in the way we would have liked. We sincerely apologised to them for this.'
New York Times
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- New York Times
How ‘Gay' Became an Identity in Art
When did homosexuality change from a description of what people do to a definition of who they are? How was an act transformed into an identity? In this precarious moment, as White House pronouncements, court decisions and public polling indicate backsliding support for gay rights in this country, such questions, long chewed over by scholars of sociology, philosophy and gender studies, are addressed in two impressive art exhibitions in Chicago. Six years in the making, 'The First Homosexuals: The Birth of a New Identity, 1869-1939,' at Wrightwood 659 gallery in Chicago, through Aug. 2, is an eye-opening global survey of same-sex-oriented art. With roughly 300 works on view, venturing beyond Europe and North America to include Latin America and Asia, it is a huge show. Yet the curator Jonathan D. Katz, who was assisted by Johnny Willis, said that procuring loans from international museums for an exhibition with this title and focus was a struggle, and more often than not, the requests were refused. Indeed, at the last moment, two promised paintings from Slovakia, which is governed by a socially conservative populist party, were withdrawn; a large black-and-white reproduction of one is hanging on a wall. Coincidentally, a superlative exhibition nearby, 'Gustave Caillebotte: Painting His World' at the Art Institute of Chicago until Oct. 5, explores how the Impressionist master concentrated on the portrayal of men, at a time when turning the male gaze on another man was almost unthinkable. Most of his depictions are not overtly homoerotic. However, in a large painting, scandalous in its day and startling even now, he viewed from behind a naked man drying himself. It's the sort of boudoir picture that his friend Edgar Degas frequently made of female bathers. Caillebotte, who died at 45 in 1894, lived with a woman and never identified as gay. An important lesson drawn from both shows is that categories like gay and straight are markers of our time, not his. As documented in the erudite and sumptuous 'First Homosexuals' catalog, the term 'homosexual' (and 'heterosexual') came into being in the 1860s, along with 'urning,' a newly coined word that has not lasted so well. Karl Heinrich Ulrichs, a German lawyer, divided humanity into those who are innately attracted to the opposite sex, and the 'urnings' who are enamored of their own. A few years later, the writer Karl Maria Kertbeny came up with 'homosexual.' Unlike Ulrichs, he viewed sexual choice as a changeable taste, not a binary division, akin to deciding what dish to cook for dinner. Yet in the years that followed, Ulrichs's hard-and-fast split between gay and straight came to be popularized with Kertbeny's terminology. Katz argues that at about the turn of the 20th century, in light of behavioral and psychological research, same-sex attraction shifted. Instead of something that could turn like a weather vane, it came to be regarded as an immutable orientation, and the objects of erotic fascination for gay and lesbian artists changed, too. Earlier gay artists embraced indeterminacy and represented bodies that blurred the line between masculine and feminine. But once homosexuality was no longer viewed as a momentary preference, androgynous adolescents gave way to muscular men and buxom women. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
Washington Post
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- Washington Post
‘The First Homosexuals' is a grandly complex show of fascinating art history
CHICAGO — Until fairly recently, a prevailing idea about homosexuality was that it was innate. If you were gay, went the thinking, you only needed to discover this deep biological truth about yourself (and somehow overcome deep societal prejudice) to live an authentic life. But, vital as it proved in the fight for basic rights, the idea that you were 'born this way,' as Lady Gaga's anthem put it, had to be invented before it could be dissolved, as it has been lately among young people eager to embrace a more experimental and dynamic approach to sexual attraction and sexual self-fashioning.
