Dutch Church loses Government subsidy over attempts to "cure" homosexuality
A fundamentalist Christian group that was receiving subsidies from the Dutch Government to promote understanding of gay people among Christians was, in fact, using it to try to "cure" homosexuality, it was claimed last week.

The government makes grants totalling 450,000 euros (£405,000) a year to Christian groups that promote the interests of homosexual people. The Onze Weg (Our Way) claimed to do this and received a subsidy of 50,000 euros in September.

But Members of Parliament Boris van der Ham and Anouchka van Miltenburg started asking questions after an article in Revu Weekly made claims that groups such as Our Way deliberately set out to encourage gay people to "become" heterosexual. Dutch Education Minister Ronald Plasterk announced in Parliament last week that the group will no longer receive funding from the government.

The article in Revu Weekly also made similar allegations against another group, the RefoAnders Foundation, which has since been asked to submit a detailed account of their aims.