The Christian GP who was appointed as a Government drugs adviser last month has been sacked because he co-wrote a study which linked homosexuality and child sex offences.
Dr Hans-Christian Raabe, a respected GP who backs total abstinence from drugs, was appointed to the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD) by the Home Office last month.
But because Dr Raabe didn’t declare his involvement in the 2005 scientific study his appointment has now been controversially revoked, a decision which has prompted considerable criticism.
Perception
Commenting on his dismissal Dr Raabe said: “My appointment has been revoked based on the wrong perception that I could potentially discriminate against gay people – something I have never done, neither in my private nor professional life.”
He added: “My appointment has merely been revoked as a result of my views on matters completely unrelated to drugs policy.”
His concern was echoed by Colin Hart, Director of The Christian Institute, who warned: “It looks like political correctness is alive and well at the Home Office.”
Witch-hunt
David Raynes, of the National Drug Prevention Alliance, cautioned that Dr Raabe had been the victim of a “witch-hunt”.
And Mary Brett, of the drug prevention charity Cannabis Skunk Sense, said: “This is absolutely outrageous. It is a bad, bad decision.”
The controversy stems from the conclusion of a study, entitled ‘Gay Marriage’ and Homosexuality: Some Medical Comments, which Dr Raabe and six other medical practitioners co-authored in 2005.
Homosexuality
The report stated: “While the majority of homosexuals are not involved in paedophilia, it is of grave concern that there is a disproportionately greater number of homosexuals among paedophiles and an overlap between the gay movement and the movement to make paedophilia acceptable.”
The report summarised the conclusions of other research and academic studies.
Official reports have also considered the level of child abuse where the abuser is of the same sex as the victim.
Child
In 1998 the Home Office released a report which cited a study showing that “approximately 20 to 33% of child sexual abuse is homosexual in nature”.
Given that official figures released last year showed only one per cent of the population is homosexual, supporters of Dr Raabe say same-sex child abuse is significantly over-represented.
Some academics sidestep the issue by arguing that child abuse is another sexual orientation.
Abuse
The Waterhouse Report into child sex abuse in North Wales, one of the largest reports into child abuse ever published, found that a group of underage boys had been sexually abused by some members of a homosexual equality campaign group.
According to Home Office officials Dr Raabe had been asked during the interview process to disclose anything about his personal or professional life which could embarrass either the Government or the ACMD.
A spokesman for the Home Office said: “Dr Raabe’s appointment to the ACMD has been revoked and we will be starting a recruitment campaign for a replacement GP shortly.”
Cannabis
In 2004 Dr Raabe co-signed a letter which warned against the Labour Government’s decision to reclassify cannabis to Class C.
The letter stated: “A person who uses cannabis by age 15 has more than a four-fold increased risk of developing schizophrenia symptoms over the next eleven years compared with a person starting to use cannabis by 18.”
The drug was restored to the stronger class B classification in January 2009.