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发帖数: 1822 | 1 Just who needs a cure?
Source: Global Times [19:34 May 31 2011]
By Xuyang Jingjing
The therapist seemed to sincerely believe that homosexuality is not only
something that needed curing but that his treatment could do it.
His over-the-phone pitch to this reporter, who was responding to a website
testimonial, centered on the difficult life gays and lesbians face in China.
His choice of words seemed designed to emphasize that homosexuality was some
sort of condition. "Think about it, gays are different than 'normal' people
," said Doctor Zhu Zhengyu at Beijing Defu Psychological Counseling Center.
"Sure they can have kids by other means, but whatever you do it goes against
nature," he said.
In trying to coax the caller into making an appointment, Zhu suggested that
going straight is something that should be done for parents and the family's
linage.
"You are causing your family such pain, and you will likely be discriminated
against in society, which is also painful," said Zhu.
The doctor never seemed to grasp that his reasoning and logic could just as
easily be applied to straight couples.
"Very few gay couples are happy," Zhu said. "Their relationships are
unstable. People can break up and walk away just like that."
When asked if he would instead try to persuade parents to accept a gay
daughter, Zhu said he could, "but it still won't do you any good to stay gay
," he warned.
Zhu wouldn't discuss details of the treatment he would provide but said
counseling fees range from 600 to 5,000 yuan per hour.
Zhu's clinic is far from the only counseling center to promote a "gay cure."
A simple search of the Internet turned up several dozen such specialty
services, indicating that despite recent progress China still lags behind
many other countries in acceptance and tolerance of homosexuality.
Intolerance on the decline
Homosexuality was listed as a crime in China until 1997. It wasn't until
2001 that it was de-listed as a mental illness.
"It's a bunch of nonsense of course," said Zhang Beichuan, China's leading
scholar on the study of homosexuality in response to the notion
homosexuality is something that needs curing. His book Homosexual Love,
published in 1994, was the first in China to openly and sympathetically deal
with the subject of homosexuality.
"These doctors apparently don't read books and haven't updated their
knowledge," he said. "Such services are frauds; they're doing it for the
money," he warned. | y*****g
发帖数: 1822 | 2 Aversion therapy horror stories
In the 1980s and 1990s homosexuals were given what many people today would
see as torture treatments.
"They'd place a metal ring on the genitals, and show a patient pictures of
naked men or have male models walk around them naked," said Zhang, 63. "If
they got an erection, they'd be given an electric shock."
The result of these treatments, admonished Zhang, was not only a loss of sex
drive but depression and even suicide. "Over the long run, people's sexual
orientation cannot be changed," he said.
Experts and gay activists agree that Chinese society in general –
especially young people – has become more tolerant towards the gay
community over the past decade. There has also been a growth in gay and
lesbian organizations, which were previously banned.
"I am happy with who I am. I'm proud to be gay, I'm proud to be a filmmaker.
I have all sorts of identities," said Fan Popo, a 26-year-old documentary
filmmaker. "I think the most important thing is to recognize and accept
yourself."
When Fan came out to his parents in 2009, their first reaction was to ask
whether it was curable. "They are not well-educated, so I tell them all
about it, convincing them that being gay is not a disease," said Fan. "They'
ve gradually accepted it."
"Homosexuality is not a disease, there's no need to treat it," said Fan who
is also a board member of a non-profit organization that promotes tolerance
of the gay community. "The solution is not to 'cure' them, but to help
people accept who they are."
Sexologist and sociologist Fang Gang believes that the therapists offering
to "cure" homosexuality truly believe sexual orientation can be changed. "
They lack understanding and acceptance of sexual diversity," said Fang
adding their prejudices only cause more pain.
Rejection a source of pain
"The mainstream psychology in China is still very conservative which views
only monogamous, heterosexual sex as correct," said Fang who works with
practicing psychiatrists, training them to be more open towards sexual
diversity and to abandon their prejudices.
The stigma many families of homosexuals still feel stems at least in part
from the centuries-old belief that bearing offspring is the greatest way to
express filial piety.
"Our culture links sex primarily to reproduction, which is another reason
why society in general still has a hard time accepting homosexuality," said
scholar and author Zhang.
Over the years Zhang has received thousands of letters recounting personal
struggles and family clashes over a child's sexual orientation. A young man'
s father went to prison for killing his son's partner. A judge in Henan
Province hired people to gang rape and kill his daughter's lover, said Zhang
, citing a few examples of senseless tragedy.
Zhang's years of research show that more than half of the gay men he
interviewed felt oppressed and over 30 percent had suicidal thoughts. The
gay population is also vulnerable to discrimination at work and blackmail,
said Zhang.
For many gays and lesbians "coming out" is still not an option and to please
their parents or hide from intolerance they enter heterosexual marriages.
Zhang believes 80 percent of gay men in China end up marrying women.
Wu Youjian, 64, may be one of the first mothers to openly support a gay son,
and in 2008 helped establish Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and
Gays (PFLAG). "Many parents believe that homosexuality is a disease and
would do anything to cure it," said Wu, who receives many e-mails and phone
calls from conflicted gays and their parents.
During the third PFLAG meeting last October in Beijing, two parents from
Hebei Province said they had been taking their gay son to doctors for more
than 10 years but the treatments, which began when he was 18, have only
resulted in making him depressed. | y*****g
发帖数: 1822 | 3 Society needs changing
"Many parents take their kids to the doctors out of love. They need
better
knowledge, especially from authoritative figures such as educators and
experts," she said. When her son came out 12 years ago, it didn't take
Wu
long to accept reality. "I don't really care what other people think,"
she
said. "Being gay is natural."
Sociologist Li Yinhe's 2008 survey of public attitudes toward
homosexuality
found that most people are ambivalent, voicing neither strong support
nor
outright rejection. Over 90 percent of the randomly selected 400 people
in
Chinese cities said gays and lesbians should be protected from job
discrimination and over 80 percent believe gay and straight people are
born
equal.
Li's survey also points to some obvious remaining challenges to ending
intolerance and prejudice. About 75 percent of the people surveyed say
they
would tolerate a gay family member but they still hope he or she could
change.
"We should realize that the mental struggle is caused by the society and
the
culture we live in, which makes people hate themselves," said Zhang.
"We
should criticize and change society, instead of gay people."
Zhang often comforts gay people who seek his advice with words and
notions
many have never heard before, telling them that "there's nothing wrong
with
you. It's not your fault; it's society that's wrong."
For the last decade, sociologist Li has helped draft proposals to allow
same
sex marriages that were put forward at the annual meetings of the
Chinese
People's Political Consultative Congress and the National People's
Congress.
Every year they are ignored, she said.
"We need to change people's mind, fight discrimination against gays just
like any other form of discrimination," said Li.
Cures that Kill: a documentary
Cures that Kill tells the story of A Wen, a Chongqing-based
photographer,
and Sander Chan, a Dutch-Chinese, who both struggle with their
homosexuality
. A Wen is repeatedly sent to mental hospitals to deal with his "odd
behavior" which is a result of being secretly gay.
Sander Chan seeks to change his sexual orientation through religion.
Eventually the two learn to come to terms with their homosexuality.
"There are many things over the years that inspired the film," said
director
Wei Xiaogang. In 2007, a Western religious group tried to organize a
seminar in Beijing on curing homosexuality. The meeting was canceled
under
pressure from the gay rights activist groups, said Wei.
"There was also this pill advertised online claiming that it could cure
homosexuality," Wei recalled.
The documentary includes interviews with several therapists who changed
their views about homosexuality and are now dedicated to helping gays
and
lesbians accept their sexual orientation.
Wei sought gay people who were willing to appear on camera. "Because
that's
an important message we want to deliver, that there's noneed to hide,"
said
Wei. "There is no shame of being who we are."
Wei hopes help people understand that homosexuality is not a disease
that
needs to be treated, which is why the film's Chinese title is simply
Born
Gay.
Cures that Kill was released to coincide with this year's International
Day
Against Homophobia and commemorates 10 years since China de-listed
homosexuality as mental illnesses.
http://special.globaltimes.cn/2011-05/660685.html |
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