The Psychological Toll of “Straight-Talking Treatment” for Hong Kong’s Sexual Minorities

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Written by: Ji Ansen

Text editor: Cindy

Drawing: Beth

Alvin was satisfied with being hung up on the phone by the boy he liked, being cold and violent, and even insulted, and wrote in his diary: He did a good job and dealt with the treacherous side of my heart.

This is the conspiracy of two teenagers to defeat Alvin’s “homosexuality”, that is, the “treacherous side”.

Like Alvin, he hopes that he will no longer be attracted to the same sex, so he uses various methods to try to change his sexual orientation, which is called “sexual orientation modification”. The so-called “straight-talking treatment” is one of the methods of trying to change sexual orientation, but some people also use other methods such as taking psychiatric drugs, religious counseling, and self-repression. It sounds absurd, but in today’s Hong Kong, cases are endless.

The “Society of True Light”, which focuses on the self-acceptance of sexual/gender minorities, and Chen Junhao, an associate professor at the Education University of Hong Kong, conducted a survey of more than 200 gender/gender minorities earlier, and found that more than 20% of them have tried to change Sexual orientation, more than 70% of them have religious background. The report also pointed out that half of the people had the first attempt to straighten before the age of 18. There were different methods, but none of them worked. On the contrary, as many as 80% had suicidal thoughts.

“The survey data is beyond our expectations,” Huang Zhengguang, chairman of the True Light Society, told the reporter at G Point, “Because we never thought that the proportion of people in Hong Kong trying to straighten themselves is so high, higher than those in Canada and the United States. two or three times.”

The motivation to be straight is mostly related to family and religion. Half of the people have been driven to be straight by their family members

Family, society, and religion are all major triggers for sexual/gender minorities to try to straighten it out. According to the research conducted by the True Light Society, the three most important motivations of spontaneously straight people are “wanting to be accepted by family members” (48.8%), “not being discriminated against by society” (48.8%), and thinking that homosexuality “violates religious beliefs” (46.5%). %); for those who are driven by others, as many as 69% said that their motivation is “desire for a normal heterosexual life”, and the second place is that homosexuality “violates religious beliefs” (53.8%). It is worth mentioning that the higher the respondents’ sense of belonging to religion, the more they tend to adopt a strong and firm attitude to change their sexual orientation. My personal suggestion is to be blunt. More than half of these people are family members, followed by religious leaders, belief groups, and even counselors.

Alvin comes from a Christian family, and he attended church schools in kindergarten and secondary school. Parents think that homosexuality is AIDS, the teacher once said in class that homosexuality will make the hands grow longer, which made the whole class laugh. The seeds of homophobia have grown infinitely since then. He was the first guy to come out and tell him to try changing his sexuality, so he called a church group. The male counselor who answered said that he was also gay in the past, and now he is married and has children. The success rate is as high as 70%. Live examples are very convincing. In 2005, Alvin started his journey of trying to change his sexuality.

Alvin was full of hope at the time, feeling that he could finally walk the “road of normal people”, so he came out to his mother and confessed his determination. The mother is pleased with the maturity of her son and gives her 100% support. Unexpectedly, Alvin dug up a wound that needed to heal for more than ten years.

Straightforward and ingenious names but zero results Religious methods account for more than half of them

Allowing the boys he likes to abuse him emotionally is just one of Alvin’s methods of trying to change his sexual orientation. It is called “learning to build healthy friendships”, but it is actually a kind of abstinence. In addition, the group also asked him to learn to restore his masculinity and improve his self-image; to learn to face loneliness and overcome sexual temptation; to know the God who healed him, and to establish a relationship with God, everything can be repaired.

So Alvin started playing basketball and stopped masturbating for a year. In order to avoid being attracted by the same sex, I always bow my head when I go out, and carry a Bible with me, “Whenever I have these temptations of lust, I will take out the Bible and read it to distract myself.”

Today’s straightening methods are not as extreme as they used to be. Methods such as electroshock therapy, vomiting, and hormone injections are generally cast aside by society. According to the report of the True Light Society, the most important trial of sexual orientation nowadays is carried out through religious methods such as prayer, fasting, exorcising ghosts, etc., accounting for nearly half of the cases. The second is to suppress gender temperament (such as deliberately changing the voice, etc.), psychological counseling, abstinence, and participation in conversion therapy.

However, the True Light Society found that none of the interviewees believed that the method worked. Most people believed that sexual orientation was fixed in the early stages of growth or before birth and could not be changed later in life. More than half of the respondents admitted that they tried to change their sexual orientation only to meet the expectations of others, but they never believed that it would be effective.

To date, no scientific research has shown that sexual orientation modification is safe or effective. The male counselor who told Alvin that he was straight and successful, married and had children, later publicly confessed in a group sharing, admitting that he still had “temptations of same-sex behavior” after marriage.

According to the survey, 80% of them thought about committing suicide. Alvin: I feel that the whole person is distorted

After participating in straight treatment for one year, the service provider gave Alvin an evaluation: same-sex fantasies and masturbation decreased from 10 points to 0 points, same-sex lust thoughts decreased from 8 points to 2 points, and same-sex pornographic websites and movies etc. 10 was reduced to 0, and building healthy same-sex friendships was raised from 3 to 8.

These data seem to prove that Alvin’s obstinacy has succeeded. Alvin recalled that even when he dreamed of same-sex images, the voice of God would stop him in time, “Basically, he was in a delusional state.” However, when he saw the score in another column, his false hope was instantly shattered: troubled by same-sex feelings From 2 points to 8 points.

“Troubled” might be an understatement. After receiving straight treatment, Alvin said that he couldn’t concentrate, was nervous all the time, and couldn’t even play musical instruments anymore because he “sneezes when he touches it”. Insomnia, diarrhea, and heart palpitations ensued. He lost ten pounds, looked gaunt, and tried antidepressants, but the side effects were overwhelming. Seeing that he was so haggard, his mother even offered to buy a same-sex video for him, and used Leslie Cheung as an example to persuade him to give up.

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“Life in the next ten years will be very chaotic,” Alvin knew that he would have to tear himself down for straight treatment, but he didn’t expect that he would be unable to rebuild himself. “I feel that my whole body is distorted. I feel that I am not a person, like a walking dead,” Alvin recalled. After getting a dog, it gradually dissipated.

All of this shows that the series of numbers on Alvin’s evaluation report are just the result of his forced suppression, which has no benefit at all.

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The study by the True Light Society also yielded a staggering figure: among those who tried to straighten themselves, as many as 83.3% had suicidal thoughts, 27.1% even had suicide plans, and nearly four adults reached the level of clinical depression. In addition to psychological aspects, this straightening process, which generally lasts at least half a year, can also cause deterioration in physiology, life, and interpersonal relationships. Some interviewees have tried to anesthetize themselves with work, closed themselves off, and refused to socialize. Others have failed to clear up the self-loathing caused by long-term suppression of themselves in the past, which made their sex life troubled.

The True Light Society calls on the Hong Kong government to legislate to prohibit positive intervention by counselors

The scourge of sexual orientation modification has led many places around the world to completely prohibit medical staff and even anyone from assisting in such obstinate behavior. However, in Hong Kong, there is still no legislative discussion on banning straightness, and the affected gender/gender minorities have not even received any support.

Therefore, the True Light Society calls on the Hong Kong government to refer to foreign practices and legislate to prohibit any service units such as counseling centers and religious organizations from assisting others in trying to change their orientation. At the level of public education, knowledge of diverse sexual orientations should also be promoted to enhance public awareness of gender/gender minority friendliness and reduce social stigma.

“The results of this study make us more convinced that the Hong Kong government and the society should do more to help sexual/gender minorities accept their sexual orientation,” said Huang Zhengguang, chairman of the True Light Society, “and provide more sexual/gender minorities Friendly resources, such as more counselors who know how to deal with doubts about sexual orientation.” The survey report finally lists suggestions for counselors in detail, how to equip themselves with attitudes, skills and knowledge, and assist sexual/gender minority help-seekers, such as maintaining Openness, providing a safe environment, humbly acknowledging individual limitations and making appropriate referrals to peers familiar with sexuality issues, etc.

However, although the report indicated that 73% of those who tried straightening had a religious background, the Society of True Light did not make any recommendations for clergy or religious leaders. “None of us has received theological training, so it is not so convenient to comment,” Huang Zhengguang seemed embarrassed when he answered, “But if you are a gay believer, it is easier to give advice, because many of our cases have experienced faith struggles , and some of them have already done that struggle.”

For more than ten years, Alvin hasn’t finished his struggle. He is still telling and sharing to heal himself. He thinks straightness is a product of the times, just like women’s feet piercing in ancient times. When times change, women’s status rises, and the society follows the law, the “three-inch golden lotus” will no longer exist. “Stubbornness is something like this.”

But it seems that the day is still far away from the day when the stubbornness goes away with the times. When Alvin took a sex/gender therapy course recently, he could still hear some teachers say that homosexual orientation is related to past experiences of being violated. “It turns out that when I go to some situations, my trauma will still come out,” Alvin said.

Hong Kong Sexuality Reform Research Report-True Light Society-2022download

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