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Watch: Documentary shows electroshock therapy to ‘cure’ homosexuality still being used in China
A new documentary by UK’s Channel 4 has revealed that electroshock therapy and other treatments to ‘cure’ homosexuality are still being offered in Chinese hospitals although such treatments have no scientific basis and a Chinese court last year ruled such treatments to be illegal.
In a preview of the documentary produced by Unreported World, hidden camera footage shows two Chinese activists posing as potential clients and consulting doctors saying that they wanted to be cured of their same-sex attraction.
John Shen, deputy director of the Beijing LGBT Centre, a gay rights group, is seen going for a consultation at a hospital in Tianjin where he was told to have cold showers and strenuous exercise like jogging to get rid of excess hormones.
The doctor added that if that didn’t work, he could consider taking a drug although it would cause nausea and shock therapy using an electric rod to ‘avoid urges.’
Another activist is seen undergoing electroshock therapy at a different hospital after which he pointed to his face and said it has ‘gone numb.’
China’s psychiatric association stopped classifying homosexuality as a ‘mental illness’ in 2001.
In 2014, a Beijing court ruled that treatments involving hypnosis and electric shocks to ‘cure’ homosexuality are illegal after a man brought a case against the Xinyu Piaoxiang clinic in Chongqing.
The court ordered the clinic to pay Yang Teng 3,500 yuan (US$550) in compensation and post an apology to its website.
He said he wants the result of the case to inform gay people, parents and doctors that ‘gay conversion’ treatment is without scientific basis and is illegal.
Yang’s legal challenge was filed with assistance from the Beijing LGBT Centre which has been protesting conversion therapy for years.
The 25-min documentary can be watched here.
The post Watch: Documentary shows electroshock therapy to ‘cure’ homosexuality still being used in China appeared first on Gay Star News.
Sylvia Tan
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