The hearing of a ‘gay cure’ therapist scheduled later this month is to deviate from convention and be held in secret.

A number of complaints have been made to the General Medical Council (GMC) regarding the ‘gay conversion therapy’ techniques practiced by the Belfast-based Dr Paul Miller.

In May 2011, London-based journalist Patrick Strudwick complained to the GMC after receiving what he deemed to be ‘inappropriate’ treatment’ from Miller. 

Professor Jokin de Irala, known for outspoken views that homosexuality is a 'curable disease' and an 'epidemic', was forced to cancel a planned lecture on the subject in an international convention in Costa Rica.

Irala, a Spanish medical doctor, was due to speak on 7 March on the subject of 'curing' homosexuality, at the 5th Central American Congress of Bioethics that was held in Costa Rica.

NFL drama Necessary Roughness, which screens on the USA Network in the United States, will explore what would happen if a professional footballer was to come out as more and more players come forward to say they would be accepted and that it would not matter to them.

The show, which is filming its third season, is about a single mother who lands a job as the therapist for a fictional NFL team and how she helps their staff and players out with her brand of tough-love help.

A few months ago I was working on a business magazine for Condé Nast’s contract publishing division. Over a content planning lunch at Japanese restaurant Sumosan in London’s Mayfair, Darius Sanai - the considered and intellectually intimidating editor - quickly corrected me mid-pitch as I excitedly outlined article options: ‘No, no - we don’t use the word “pamper” or “pampering”, that is not what this magazine is about. Find another word.’

Quiet, considered and thoughtful, Nicholas Rose is not perhaps the first person I would have thought of to talk about sex with.

Rose is a counselor and psychotherapist who specializes in working with gay men and gay couples, and it’s clear that not much surprises him when it comes to talking about the complex and sometimes tricky subject of sex.

Why is sex such a big deal?

Oprah Winfrey may be an Oscar-nominated actress, the talk show queen has taken on very few roles since she made a splash in 1985's The Color Purple.

One of the acting roles she did take on was as a therapist in a 1997 landmark episode of Ellen in which the lead character played by Ellen DeGeneres comes out as a lesbian.

Winfrey now reveals that after she appeared in the episode, which won an Emmy for its writing, the backlash quickly began.

Bob Bergeron, a handsome New York City therapist with a thriving practice, had finished several rigorous edits of a book aimed at helping gay men cope with middle age.

He seemed to be an expert on the topic and stated on his Web site: 'I’ve got a concise picture of what being over 40 is about and it’s a great perspective filled with happiness, feeling sexy, possessing comfort relating to other men and taking good care of ourselves. This picture will get you results that flourish long-term.'

A rabbi, a bisexual Jewish therapist and gay Jews have condemned a comment article in the Jewish Telegraph that says gay religious people should be allowed to ‘cure’ their sexuality.

The British Jewish newspaper’s columnist Doreen Wachmann admits that ‘gay cures’ don’t ‘always work’ but says that they should be tried anyway, if people want to. She also claims there is a ‘fascism’ disallowing free speech on the subject among Orthodox Jews.