CASE STUDY:
Community-led
advocacy to end gay
‘conversion’ therapy in
China.
China dropped homosexuality as a
psychiatric disorder in 2001. Although the
general public has become more accepting
of homosexuality in recent years, many
families, institutions and even educational
textbooks still treat it as a problem that
needs to be fixed.
In this climate, controversial “conversion”
methods that promise to “cure” gay
and lesbian people have become
commonplace. The clinics, which are
often unlicensed and staffed by uncertified
professionals, have been recorded using
outlandish, alarming techniques—including
electroshock therapy—to “convert” LGBT
persons and eradicate homosexuality.
These methods, of course, have no basis
in medical science, and medical experts
warn that the procedures are likely to do
more harm than good.
Armed with a comprehensive
advocacy strategy, Asia Catalyst
partners took on this fight, with
compounding, compelling results.
Asia Catalyst photo,
December 2014.
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