One-fifth of British gay, lesbian and bisexual people who have tried to change their sexuality have attempted suicide, while others have been raped in an effort to make them straight, a study of “conversion therapy” in Britain showed on Wednesday.
Of 458 people who said they had experience of trying to become straight, 91 had attempted suicide and 22 had been forced to have sex with someone of the opposite gender, according to the survey, which had 4,613 total respondents.
It was conducted by the Ozanne Foundation to gather evidence of the extent and impact of conversion therapy.
“There are young people’s lives who are very significantly at risk,” said Jayne Ozanne, a Christian who founded the charity to work with religious organizations on LGBT inclusion.
Ozanne suffered two nervous breakdowns when she failed to change and then suppress her own attraction to women, she said.
Conversion therapy, which can include hypnosis, electric shocks and fasting, is based on the belief that being LGBT is a mental illness that can be cured.
Malta, Ecuador and just more than a dozen US states have outlawed it, according to the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association. Several nations are considering bans, including Britain, New Zealand and Australia.
The survey, which was put out online, raised issues of consent, with 76 people saying they had been forced to undergo conversion therapy.
Over half of survey respondents who had tried or been forced to try to change their sexuality were 18 or under when it first happened.
They were also overwhelmingly religious. More than 90 percent attended a church as a child and two-fifths had been through “deliverance ministry,” which aims to cast out evil spirits.
The pressure to change their sexuality went hand-in-hand with psychological problems. About 60 percent said they had suffered mental health issues as a result, three-fifths of whom were men.
“There is what I call an abusive mindset that says it’s always your fault,” said Ozanne, who tried “dozens” of types of conversion therapy in Britain, Germany, Argentina and the US.
“It constantly leaves you in a negative place,” she said. “It makes you hate yourself for who you are.”
The survey’s respondents were whiter and more likely to be English and Christian than Britain’s general population. More than half were not straight.
Ozanne said that the survey had failed to reach British ethnic minorities and those from other religions, but added that the results should still be taken seriously, given the level of attempted suicides and other mental health issues.
Bisi Alimi, a gay activist who fled to Britain after being attacked in Nigeria, said that conversion therapy among British minorities often included forced marriage to someone of the opposite gender and being sent back to their family’s country.
Ozanne and Alimi supported banning conversion therapy.
“If you criminalize it, it will go underground,” Alimi said. “We cannot stop the problem ... but we can at least reduce the damage to people.”
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