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I spent over a decade investigating and reporting on conversion therapy; put myself through it to expose the practice + got the first therapist struck off for it. (That took 3 yrs). I know what needs to be done + am happy to offer insights to any MP or @GEOgovuk wanting to end it
2. For anyone else wanting to know what conversion therapy does to you, here is some of my work. First, my undercover investigation into a U.K. psychiatrist and a psychotherapist who both tried to “cure” me: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/this-britain/the-ex-gay-files-the-bizarre-world-of-gay-to-straight-conversion-1884947.html
The case against the conversion therapist - at this point she hadn’t yet been kicked out of the British Association of Counselling and Psychotherapy - but she was later: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/may/27/gay-conversion-therapy-patrick-strudwick
When Obama said he would ban conversion therapy I wrote about the horrific toll it took on me - as well as the agonising fight to get the therapist struck off: https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/patrickstrudwick/this-is-what-happens-when-you-undergo-gay-conversion-therapy
And then I started interviewing others who’d been through it. This got even darker. First, the man who was given electric shocks. This piece led to an historic admission by the Royal College of Psychiatrists about the harm their own profession had done: https://www.buzzfeed.com/patrickstrudwick/this-gay-man-was-given-repeated-electric-shocks-by-british
Here’s that admission from the president of the college: https://www.buzzfeed.com/patrickstrudwick/uk-psychiatrists-have-issued-an-historic-admission-of-the
Then there were those I interviewed who had been subject to religious gay “cures”, such as Vicky Beeching. This will be harder for the government to deal with - but vital that they do: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/news/vicky-beeching-star-of-the-christian-rock-scene-im-gay-god-loves-me-just-the-way-i-am-9667566.html
A year after this, we sat down again and talked more about the effects of it all: https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/patrickstrudwick/this-is-what-happens-when-you-come-out-as-a-gay-christian
Then, Anthony Venn-Brown who was subject to exorcisms to rid him of the “demon” of homosexuality. He was one of the first people sent to a residential gay “cure” camp. He’s just been awarded the the Order of Australia medal for his work combatting “cures”. https://www.buzzfeed.com/patrickstrudwick/this-is-what-its-like-to-have-exorcisms-performed-on-you
All of which is to say: this abuse has to end. It’s complicated but so are all types of abuse. The government must act. It destroys lives. It kills people. Many of us have the knowledge and expertise to help deliver justice to end this practice. We want to help.
We’re waiting.
We’re waiting.
