Mumbai, June 14: Newspapers are filled with all kinds of classifieds, from advertising about jobs,  astrology to  massage parlours. One such classified, in a leading newspaper, has caught the attention of people in the LGBTQ group, which claims to cure homosexuality. The ad titled 'Is your son/daughter gay/lesbian before marriage? The ad promised 'distance cosmic healing' for cerebral palsy, autism (misspelt as austism), and schizophrenia. The ad went viral after LGBTQ activist Harrish Iyer shared it on Facebook.

People across the community have blasted this ad and questioned the editorial policy of the newspaper for promoting such quacks. The executive editor of Hindustan Times Sachin Kalbag however, clarified their stance on Twitter saying 'The picture is of a classified advertisement, and we will find out how this slipped in. The official editorial position of Hindustan Times on homosexuality is clear in our reportage as well as our editorials. There should be zero discrimination and absolute equality."

According to Indian Express report, the man claims to be 'healer' and gives weird explanations like- Cellphone radiations, and excessive use of mobile phones are causing people to turn gay. He goes on to claim that many prominent people namely Baba Ramdev, Congress President Rahul Gandhi, BJP MP Varun Gandhi, Deepika Padukone and Shweta Nanda are all gay. He also said that male children who are overly pampered by their mothers turn gay, thus blaming women for the child’s sexuality.

You must be wondering how he cures his 'patient'? So here it is, he uses 'reverse electronic waves from a distance’. At a time, when people are fighting for the rights of the LGBTQ community, it is not shocking that such frauds exist in the society.  We feel there needs to be proper education, and awareness, so that there is no place for such quacks to make money.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jun 14, 2018 01:51 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).