Gay people are still facing ‘exorcisms’ to ‘cure them’ of their sexuality

One in 10 LGBTQ+ people in the UK have undergone an ‘exorcism’ as a form of conversion therapy, according to a new survey.

Conversion therapy, also called reparative therapy, is the false idea that someone’s sexual orientation or gender identity can be changed.

The practice has in the past included abuse such as castration, electroshocks and beatings as well as ‘faith-based’ methods, like exorcisms.

But for some LGBTQ+ people in the UK, this is still their reality. Nearly a third of LGBTQ+ Britons have experienced at least one or more attempt at changing their sexuality or gender, a survey from Stonewall has found.

One in 10 (12%) of the 2,000 LGBTQ+ people surveyed have suffered ‘corrective rape’ – sexually assaulting an LGBTQ+ person to ‘cure’ them.

The research, carried out by pollster Opinium, found that some queer Britons have experienced faith-based conversion practices.

Religious figures have told one in 10 (11%) LGBTQ+ people to ingest ‘purifying’ substances, have ‘exorcised’ one in 10 (10%) and have tried to’pray the gay away’ of one in five (17%) queer people.

But conversion therapy, widely debunked by medical professionals, can take other forms.

Nearly one in five (17%) LGBTQ+ people have been physically assaulted and one in five (19%) have been excluded by their family or friends.

For trans people, the figures are even higher. Almost two in five (38%) have been physically assaulted by someone trying to forcibly change their identity, with the same number being excluded by their communities.

Some 15% of LGBTQ+ people have been threatened with homelessness in an attempt to ‘fix’ them, a figure higher among bisexual people (17%).

The same number have been excluded by their family, friends and community for the same reason.

Stonewall’s findings are far higher than a 2017 government survey which reported 2% of LGBTQ+ people had undergone conversion practices, while 5% had been offered them.

‘Conversion practices are rife in the UK and those who practice them have been allowed to do so with impunity under successive governments,’ Jayne Ozanne, the founder of the Ban Conversion Therapy coalition, told Metro.

‘The most insidious forms are in religious settings, where young LGBTQ+ people are continually told that their desire to love and be loved is intrinsically sinful and that they must change.’

Ozanne, a gay evangelical Anglican who has been subjected to conversion practices, stressed that ‘healing prayer’ causes ‘untold harm to the victim’s mental health’.

Plans to ‘eradicate’ conversion therapy by banning it in England and Wales were first proposed by the Conservative government in 2018.

Some seven years later, while the ban was included in the King’s Speech last year, no draft legislation has been published.

Labour has said the ban will also protect trans and non-binary people after the previous Tory government initially said they would not be covered.

‘We continue the long wait for a draft bill and trust that Labour will hold true to their promise and publish it shortly,’ Ozanne added.

Simon Blake, chief executive of Stonewall, said: ‘Each day that conversion practices remain legal, they continue to cause untold suffering to LGBTQ+ people across the country – placing LGBTQ+ people at risk of harm.

‘These alarming figures shed light on just how common these practices remain, despite often being hidden from public view or scrutiny.’

A government spokesperson told Metro: ‘Conversion practices are abuse – such acts have no place in society and must be stopped. 

‘We committed to bringing forward legislation to finally ban conversion practices, as one of its legislative priorities set out in the King’s Speech.’

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