26 Dec ‘Gay conversion’ treatment is now illegal in China
n the first case of its kind in China, Beijing’s Haidian District People’s Court last Friday ruled that the Xinyupiaoxiang Counseling Center in Chongqing had no medical basis to offer a cure for homosexuality.
It ordered the clinic to pay 3,500 yuan (US$560) to Yang Teng who took the case to court after he underwent hypnosis and electric shock treatment after being told by the clinic that it was a safe and effective cure for homosexuality.
The court has ordered the clinic to post an apology for offering the treatment on the front page of its website for 48 hours and has ordered an investigation to find out if the clinic holds a valid licence.
Although China stopped classifying homosexuality as a mental illness in 2001, a number of clinics across the country purport to offer tratments to ‘cure’ homosexuality.
Yang said in a video interview, ‘This is very important for China’s homosexuals. It is the first time that government officials, on the basis of the law, adopt a just statement on gay equality. We can take this result and tell people, including all the parents in China, and all doctors engaging in “gay conversion” treatment, that “gay conversion” is illegal.’
He filed the legal challenge with assistance from the Beijing LGBT Centre, a non-profit NGO, which has been protesting conversion therapy for years.
Like many other gay people in China, Yang said he faced pressure from family members to get married and have children; and was urged by his family to go to the clinic to be treated for his homosexuality.
Source: Gay star news