Homophobic Muslim GP suspended

The president of the Islamic Medical Association has been suspended after making a ferocious attack on gay people in Pulse, the magazine for GPs.

In the letter, Dr Muhammad Siddiq says that gays need “the stick of the law to put them on the right path" and that they deserve neither help nor pity.

"There is punishment and fine if you throw rubbish or filth in the streets. The gays are worse than the ordinary careless citizen,” wrote the GP, who is a contracted by Walsall Primary Care Trust in the West Midlands, “They are causing the spread of disease with their irresponsible behaviour. They are the root of many sexually transmitted diseases." The letter went on to say that a depressed transsexual awaiting gender reassignment was "twisted."

Dr Siddiq denies that he wrote the letter and claims his son was playing a "cynical spoof" on him by forcing him to sign the letter and sending it to Pulse, a magazine for GPs. When the magazine checked with Dr Siddiq, he made no effort to deny that these were his views. Allegedly, he has privately told his colleagues that he had actually written the letter.

Dr Michael Irwin, co-ordinator of the Secular Medical Forum commented: "If Dr. Muhammad Siddiq holds these views, he should not be allowed to work within the NHS. And, if he has a private practice, his patients should be made aware of his opinion, so that only those with a similar bigoted outlook would be likely to see him. Looking to the future, I believe the GMC should require him to attend a ‘Fitness-to-Practice’ hearing: then, if it is confirmed that he has been correctly quoted, his medical registration should be suspended."

The GP has now been suspended while Walsall PCT carry out an investigation into the comments attributed to Dr M Siddiq.

See also: Stonewall campaigns against homophobic doctors
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