Gay Man Wins Case Over Forced Conversion Therapy in China

By Angel Song, July 5, 2017

Recently, a gay man living in Zhumadian, Henan Province, sued a local mental hospital for carrying out conversion therapy against his will. In a historic decision on June 26, the court ruled in favor of the man, surnamed Yu. It declared that the hospital had infringed on Yu's personal freedom, and ordered the hospital to make a public apology and hand over RMB5,000 as compensation.

The incident that led to the lawsuit began in October 2015, when Yu was sent to the Zhumadian mental hospital by his wife and relatives. Yu claimed that the hospital coerced him into taking medicine and injections because of a claimed "sexual preference disorder," when it was clear that he was fine.

During the treatment, Yu asked to leave multiple times and was rejected until October 27, when public security staff intervened on his behalf. Yu was unwillingly hospitalized for 19 days in total.

A volunteer taking a stand against conversion therapy in front of the Zhumadian hospital last year

Last month, the Zhumadian court ruled that since Yu was not at risk of hurting others or himself, he should not have been forced to receive treatment at the hospital.

According to gay rights activist Peng Yanhui, Yu's is not the only case. Many non-heterosexuals are still being sent to mental hospitals for ‘conversion therapy,’ even though homosexuality was removed from China’s list of mental disorders in 2001.

According to a survey conducted by the Beijing LGBT Center in 2014, out of 1,653 participants identifying as LGBT, almost one tenth had considered trying conversion therapy before. The most common reason cited was ‘for my parents and family,’ followed by ‘fitting into society, leading a normal life.’

To highlight the ongoing problem, in 2014 Peng voluntarily checked himself into a mental clinic in Beijing that advertised electroshock therapy. After leaving, he successfully sued the clinic over the painful treatment he’d gone through.

The activist said although there are currently no laws forbidding conversion therapy in China, he hopes the situation will soon change.

[Images via Wp.telesurtv.net, Guancha.cn]