People in Warwickshire offered 'gay conversion therapy' as calls grow to make it illegal

People in Warwickshire who feel they might be gay are being offered LGBT 'conversion therapy', it has been revealed.

LGBT+ 'conversion therapy' refers to any form of treatment or psychotherapy that aims to change a person's sexual orientation or to suppress a person's gender identity.

It can be offered by anyone, and has been described as "a form of torture".

'Conversion therapy' is already illegal in Brazil, Ecuador and Malta, and countries like Canada, New Zealand and Germany have all taken steps to raise a bill in Parliament to outlaw it.

The practice has been condemned by major UK therapy professional bodies and the NHS, and in July Boris Johnson vowed to ban it, describing it as "absolutely abhorrent".

But in the meantime, LGBT+ 'conversion therapy' is still happening, and it is taking place right on our doorstep.

"It is happening in Warwickshire right now, and I wouldn't be surprised if it was happening in Coventry too," Daniel Browne told CoventryLive over the phone.

Mr Browne , who is chairman of Warwickshire Pride, said that the practice is alive and well locally, and even if it is made illegal the authorities will need to take steps to enforce the ban.

"The community feels that it's long overdue and that conversion therapy is a form of torture. Conversion therapy is happening in Warwickshire right now, it's legal.

"It's curing people of being gay, that's the thought behind it."

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Mr Browne also works as a hypnotherapist and helps run a support group for young LGBT people in Warwickshire as part of Warwickshire Pride's outreach programme.

It has been running for nine years and is often where they can identify young people who are particularly vulnerable to things like 'conversion therapy'.

He added: "To give you an example of what's happening in Warwickshire, we are currently supporting someone at Warwickshire Pride who has been offered conversion therapy by a church they attend locally.

"The church has pushed this and strongly believes the person needs to be cured of being gay. This is deeply distressing for the individual, and it's also distressing and psychologically damaging for other LGBT+ people who have been offered or told they need conversion therapy.

"Sadly it tends to come from religious institutions, from various churches. It's crazy to think that it's still been happening because it hasn't been made illegal, there is so much evidence to show that it's a form of torture."

And what does 'conversion therapy' actually look like? Mr Browne said: "It involves a lot of counselling, exploring why they are gay, why they are having these feelings, conversations about why it is unacceptable, immoral.

"Quite often people undergoing this are given tasks such as getting a partner of the opposite sex, doing all they can to suppress those feelings that they are naturally having.

"It's quite varied [ages] in my experience, young and older people are being offered it."

A petition that was started this summer to make the practice illegal in the UK exceeded 200,000 signatures, meaning it will be considered for debate in Parliament.

The UK Government responded to the petition in May 2020, saying: "The Government is committed to ensuring all citizens feel safe and protected from harm. We will work to deepen our understanding and consider all options for ending the practice of conversion therapy."

Mr Browne says the impact of receiving such therapy can be "devastating", and added: "A lot of the time people being offered this conversion therapy are already quite vulnerable and experiencing poor mental health. For them to be told there's something wrong with them, that their identity is wrong, causes further mental stress.

"I've experienced it in my therapy practice too - there aren't enough words to describe how damaging it is."

Back in March, at the start of the first lockdown, CoventryLive spoke to an LGBT+ man from Coventry who feared being locked down with what he described as his "homophobic family."

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As we enter a second lockdown, there are fears of what physical and mental impact it will have as support groups are forced to shut down again.

Mr Browne said: "We've had to move everything online. All of our groups on Zoom so we're still able to provide support.

"This year more than any year we've seen people's mental health deteriorating. That's not specific to the LGBT+ community, but we're just trying to keep things going to ensure the community isn't isolated."

But online support is not accessible to everyone: "It ranges from mild annoyance to despair, some people who use our services [see it as] a lifeline, some people are not able to access online support and it's really difficult to support those, the people who attend our youth group that's who it's bothered the most, it's hit them the hardest.

"The youth group is for ages 12 to 18 and has been going nine years."

Mr Browne said other local support includes an LGBT+ Christian group which is run in Leamington.

Even if 'conversion therapy' is banned in the UK, Mr Browne spoke of the need to enforce it: "It not only needs to be banned, that ban needs to be enforced because there's bound to the organisations that flout the rules and offer it, there needs to be strong enforcement."

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