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radioAndrea Williams reports
Lesley Pilkington, a Christian counsellor with over 20 years' experience is facing a Professional Conduct Panel on Thursday 20 January after an extraordinary targeting and betrayal by an undercover homosexual activist falsely pretending to be a Christian in need of help.
Lesley Pilkington is being represented by Standing Counsel to the Christian Legal Centre, Paul Diamond. She has to defend herself against a formal complaint by Patrick Strudwick, a homosexual writer and activist who met her at a Christian conference. Acting undercover, he told Lesley that he wanted to leave his homosexual lifestyle and wanted help to change. Lesley confirmed that she would be happy to meet with Patrick but only within a Christian counselling context.
Throughout the two subsequent therapy sessions, Patrick repeatedly told Lesley that he wanted to leave his homosexual lifestyle and that he wanted to change. However, after the sessions (which he secretly recorded), he then lodged a complaint to the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy alleging that Lesley had tried to force her beliefs on him.
He also published an attacking article in The Independent newspaper about Lesley, subsequently receiving the journalist of the year award by the homosexual-rights organisation Stonewall!
Unfortunately, those offering counselling for homosexual orientation have been increasingly targeted by the homosexual lobby.
Lesley is a wonderful, highly professional Christian counsellor, who has practised for many years with an unblemished record. When a young man asked for help to change his behaviour, she was happy to give it. Rather than breaching his autonomy, Lesley provided exactly what was asked of her. It is shocking that she was targeted, lied to and misrepresented by this homosexual activist and even worse that her professional body consider her actions worthy of investigation.
Lesley is being supported by the Christian Legal Centre. 
Andrea Minichiello Williams is a Barrister and has been working as a Christian lobbyist in the Legal and Public Policy arena in the United Kingdom for 10 years. She is also Director of the Christian Legal Centre Ltd which is partnered with 
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I do not support the practice of any form of "reparative" therapy for LGBT people and think that Mr Strudwick is right to highlight where this is practiced and to bring it to the attention of the wider public and the appropriate authorities. I believe reparative therapy to be an abuse of the individual LGBT person and wholly inappropriate, since homosexuality is not a psychological disorder.
However, I am grateful to this article for highlighting aspects of this case that I have not read in the wider press. It seems to me that there are two sides to this story and I hope that the Professional Conduct Panel has taken a balanced view.
I met Leslie a number of years ago when I was part of a church group led by her and her husband. Whilst I would probably disagree with her views about homosexuality, at no time did she ever seek to impose her views and beliefs on me as a homosexual Christian. Quite the reverse in fact; she was very supportive of me during a difficult time in my life.