Philippa Stroud It has been revealed a high-profile prospective Conservative MP in the British elections founded a church that tried to cure gay people by driving out their "demons" through prayer. Sutton and Cheam candidate Philippa Stroud is credited with shaping many of her party's social policies. The Guardian says she has heavily influenced leader David Cameron's beliefs on subjects such as the family and is seen as one of the party's rising stars. It has now emerged that in 1989, Stroud founded a church and night shelter in Bedford, the King's Arms Project, that helped drug addicts and alcoholics. It also counselled gay, lesbian and transsexual people. A teenage girl with 'transsexual issues' has told the Observer she was sent to the church by her evangelical Christian parents. "Convinced I was demonically possessed, my parents made the decision to move to Bedford, because of this woman [Stroud] who had come back from Hong Kong and had the power to set me free," she says. "She wanted me to know all my thinking was wrong, I was wrong and the so-called demons inside me were wrong. The session ended with her and others praying over me, calling out the demons. She really believed things like homosexuality, transsexualism and addiction could be fixed just by prayer, all in the name ofJesus." A hostel resident says she was told to end her lesbian relationship or leave the church. "They told me my feelings weren't normal. I didn't want to be gay, I wanted to be like everybody else, get married, have kids and please my parents." Stroud also wrote a book, God's Heart for the Poor, in which she explains how to deal with people showing signs of "demonic activity". She has refused to comment to the Observer. The Conservatives have tried to win over gay voters after a string of controversial comments by party members, including home secretary Chris Grayling, who said owners of B
Credit: GayNZ.com Daily News staff
First published: Tuesday, 4th May 2010 - 9:24am