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BMA states'conversion therapy' for gay people is harmful

More than two-thirds of doctors at the British Medical Association's AGM approved a motion backing a call for the Royal College of Psychiatrists and other mental health standards bodies to so-called "conversion therapy" designed to change sexuality and ban their use in their codes of practice.

In February this year, The Independent ran an article written by Patrick Strudwick, a journalist and campaigner, who went under cover and posedas a "patient" under the care of evangelical therapists. . He revealed how thetherapists, some of whom are operating within the NHS, tried to "reorient" the sexual orientation of gay men and women. According to The Independent, Mr Strudwick called yesterday's vote a "water shed moment in the struggle for gay equality". He added that his undercover investigation for The Independent, which prompted this motion, highlighted the fact that not only are psychiatrists and psychotherapists still peddling these abhorrent techniques, but that in some cases the NHS are paying for it. He hopes that any vulnerable gay person who is unhappy about their sexuality takes notice of this motion and realises that it is the world that needs to change, not them.

Tom Dolphin, vice-chair of the BMA's junior doctors committee who proposed the motion, said: "Sexuality is such a fundamental part of who a person is, that attempts to change it just result in significant confusion, depression and even suicide. You can't just wish away same-sex attraction no matter how inconvenient it might be."

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