China man wins suit over forced conversion

A CHINESE court has ordered a psychiatric hospital to compensate and apologise to a gay man who was forced to undergo conversion therapy – a ruling hailed by LGBT rights groups.

The 37-year-old man had been forcibly placed in the institution by his family in October 2015, shortly after he revealed his homosexuality to his wife and asked for a divorce, according to the verdict seen by AFP yesterday.

The hospital diagnosed him with “sexual preference disorder” and refused to allow him to leave despite his requests, forcing him to undergo a medicated treatment that would supposedly “cure” him.

The man, surnamed Yu, filed a lawsuit and last week a court in the city of Zhumadian, central Henan province, ruled in his favour, ordering the hospital to issue a public apology and pay him 5,000 yuan ($735).

“This verdict is of great importance for homosexuals because no laws offer protection against these forced treatments,” Peng Yanhui, director of the NGO LGBT Rights Advocacy China, said.

Such conversion therapies are unscientific and ineffective, but they remain on offer at many clinics across China.

In 2001, China withdrew homosexuality from its list of mental illnesses, however homosexual men and women continue t o face intense discrimination and family pressure.