Vue Cinemas Breached Contract by Refusing to Screen 'Voices of the Silenced'
After Vue Cinemas cancelled the screening of the film 'Voices of the Silenced' at the last minute in February, the film's producers launched a legal challenge against Vue. In August, Vue agreed to pay a nominal amount for breaching the contract. A spokesperson from Vue has said, however, that they stand by their decision of not screening the movie as it was "in direct conflict with its values." 'Voices of the Silenced' is a film by Christian organization Core Issues Trust about people who have left behind same-sex attraction practices.
The spokesperson of Vue stated that "Vue firmly stands by its decision to cancel the screening of 'Voices of the Silenced' which is direct conflict with its values. The claim made relates simply to the late cancellation of the screen booking and the costs incurred by the organisers in the process of promoting the screening and other expenses which came to approximately £1000. This has nothing to do with freedom of expression laws," iNews reported.
Mike Davison of the Core Issues Trust, the producer of the movie, however said: “I am delighted that freedom of expression has won today. We worked hard to create Voices of the Silenced because we believe that it contains a very important, highly-relevant message – people can change. This population have been failed by Mental Health Services because they are denied professional counselling respectful of their world view. Vue Cinemas has recognised that it was wrong to block us from showing the film. I hope that in future they won’t fold under pressure from LGBT activists who want to suppress the voices of those who want to move away from same-sex attraction and behaviour,” Pink News reported.
Andrea Williams, chief executive of the Christian Legal Centre, which supported Dr Davidson, added: “People like Mike need to be heard loudly and clearly in the current debate on sexuality and gender. Their experiences simply don’t fit in with current LGBT ideology and narratives which claim that it’s impossible for someone’s sexual attraction to change. LGBT activists shouldn’t be allowed to define or deny other people’s life experiences or squeeze them out of the public debate. It is not compassionate to allow LGBT ideology to go unchallenged, nor to prevent people who want to see change in their lives from seeking help. I hope that the government starts to listen to the voices of people like Mike before pursuing any attacks on the freedom of people with same-sex attraction to seek change.”
Sources and credit: Premier here and here, Christian Concern, Christian Today, iNews.co.uk, Pink News, attitude.co.uk and BBC