Beijing LGBT Center

Institute of Psychology,
Chinese Academyr of Sciences

Index
Part I:
A Study of LGBT People's
Mental Health Conditions
I. BACKGROUND
II. METHODOLOGY
(1) Sampling Methods
(2) Characteristics of Samples
(3) Assessment Tools

04
04
10

III. RESULTS
(1) Sexual Orientation, Self-acceptance, and Marriage Status
(2) Depression
(3) Self-eff icacy
(4) The Need for Psychological Ser vices

IV. DISCUSSION.

12
18
20
22

Part II:
Conversion Therapy and
the LGBT Community
I. BACKGROUND
II. METHODOLOGY
(1) Sampling Methods
(2) Characteristics of Samples
(3) Research Contents

31
31
38

III. RESULTS
(1) Attitudes towards Conversion Therapy
39
(2) Procedure and Effects of Conversion Therapy 43

IV. DISCUSSION.
V. INADEQUACY AND PROSPECTS

Acknowledgments
References
Appendix:

I. Organization Introduction
II. Two Inter views
with the Persons W ho
had Gone through

Conversion Therapies

Part I:
A Study of LGBT People's
Mental Health Conditions

I . BACKGROU ND
I n C h i n a , t h e C C M D -3 (C h i n e s e C l a s s i -

k nowledge of and at tit ude towards homosexual-

f icat ion of Me nt al Disorde r s 3, 20 01) removed

it y, 38.5% of the male respondents and 53.4% of

homo s ex u a l it y f r om t he d ia g no s t ic c r it e r ia of

t he fe m a le r e s p ond e nt s c on sid e r e d homo s ex u -

mental disorders. However, the existing percep -

a l it y n o r m a l , b u t 6 0.4% of t h e m a l e s t u d e n t s

t ion s by t he C h i ne s e pu bl ic on homo s ex u a l it y

a nd 46.7% of t he female st udent s considered it

h a s n o t c h a n g e d a c c o r d i n g l y. A s t u d y of t h e

u nacceptable to have homosexual child ren, fam-

publics at tit ude towards homosexualit y i n Wu-

ily member s or close f r iend s ( Fu X iaolong, Su

h a n a r e a by C he n Sh a oju n e t a l. (20 08) fou nd

Ning, Mu Qi'er & Liu A nqi, 2012).

t h at on ly 17.1% of t he r e s p onde nt s c on side r e d

In 2012, Aibai Cult u re and Education Cen-

homosexualit y acceptable, and the vast major it y

t er conduct ed resea rch on ca mpu s bu l ly i ng re -

of t he respondents considered it absolutely u n-

lat ed to sexu al or ient at ion a nd gende r ident it y

acceptable to have homosexual family members

(SOGI) among high school st udents and college

(C h e n S h a oj u n , D a i X i n m i n , L i S h u n l a i & J i

st udents in Guangzhou area. The results showed

Hong, 2008).

that about 44% of the respondents had suffered

A s c ol lege s t u d e nt s w i l l b e t h e m a i n s t ay

f rom verbal at tacks, such as nick names, der ision

of so ciet y, t hei r at t it ude s w i l l af fe ct t he level

a n d v ic io u s joke s f r o m s ch o ol m a t e s a n d e ve n

of social pressu re on homosexual people i n the

f rom teachers. A nother repor t issued by Aibai

f ut u re (Gong Qi ng hu a , 2010). T hus ma ny st ud-

o n t h e E m ploy m e n t E nv i r o n m e n t fo r C h i n e s e

ies conducted in China have at tempted to u nder-

LGBT Employee s (2013) showed t hat 60.9% of

st a nd the public k nowledge of a nd its at t it udes

t he respondent s who had not come out wor r ied

t ow a r d s h o m o s e x u a l i t y b y s u r ve y i n g c ol l e g e

t h a t t h e y wou ld b e a l ie n a t e d b e c a u s e of t h e i r

st udents.

s ex u a l o r ie nt a t io n ; 51.71% of t h e r e s p o n d e nt s

Compa r at ively sp e a k i ng, de spit e t he rela-

wor r ied t hat t hei r sexu al or ient at ion wou ld af-

t ively toler a nt at t it udes of college st udent s to -

fect t hei r ca reer development a nd 22.49% wor-

wards homosexualit y, the propor tion of st udents

r ie d t h at t hey wou ld b e t e r m i n at e d f r om t hei r

w h o f i n d h o m o s e x u a l it y u n a c c e p t a ble i s a l s o

jobs.

fa i rly la rge. For ex a mple, Lia ng Bi n s u r veye d

Ba s e d on t he r e s u lt s of nu me r ou s s t u d ie s

1,762 c ol lege s t u de nt s i n C he ngd u a b out t hei r

about the public at tit ude towards homosexualit y

k nowle d ge of a nd at t it ude t owa rd s homosex u -

published in China in the last 10 years, as well

alit y. T he resu lt s showed t hat 41.2% of t he re -

a s on t he p e r c e pt ion of so cia l pr e s s u r e by t he

s p o n d e n t s c o n s i d e r e d t h a t h o m o s e x u a l it y d i d

L GBT p e o pl e t h e m s el ve s , we h ave c o n cl u d e d

not comply with Chinese moral standards (Liang

that the publics acceptance of homosexualit y is

Bi n & K a ng Xudong, 2012), a nd t he m ale st u-

still relatively low, and that there is a difference

dent s su r veyed had even lower accept a nce lev-

i n t he acce pt a nce level de pend i ng on t he d is -

els towa rd s homosexu alit y ( Fu X iaolong et al.,

tance of the relationships: it is much easier for

2012). I n a not he r s u r vey of 1,0 0 0 c ol lege st u -

people to accept other people whom they do not

dents f rom eig ht colleges i n Dalia n about t hei r

k now t h a n t o a c c e pt f r ie nd s a nd fa m i ly me m -

02

b e r s. T he c on s t a nt s o cia l p r e s s u r e h a s c au s e d

h ig h self- ef f icacy a nd to receive psycholog ical

har m to LGBT peoples mental health (Coch ran,

suppor t.

Sullivan & Mays, 2003; Mays & Coch ran, 2001;

Meyer, 2003; Liu Huaqing, 1998).

Based on the reasons above, this st udy has

t h ree mai n pu r poses: (1) To a ssess t he de pres-

A sense of self- ef f icacy refer s to t he gen-

sion level of LGBT people and reveal their men-

eral conf idence level of people when they meet

tal health conditions and r isks; (2) To assess the

challenges in var ious environ ments or face

overall level of self-eff icacy of LGBT people in

new t h i ng s , a s wel l a s t he ove r a l l eva lu at ion .

order to u nderstand their overall conf idence lev-

Ba ndu r a put s sel f- ef f ica cy at t he ce nt e r of al l

el, as well as differences among sub-g roups; (3)

t h e c h a n g e s i n p s y c h o t h e r a p y, s a y i n g t h a t i t

To u nderst and the need of LGBT ment al health

is a fe el i ng of p owe rle ssne ss exp e r ie nce d i n a

ser vices and to provide a reference to such ser-

st ressf ul sit uation, rather than the st ressf ul sit u-

vices.

at ion it sel f, t hat produce s ha r m f u l physiolog ical ef fects ( Ba ndu ra , 1977; Chen X iuli & Feng
Wei, 20 03). I nd iv idu als w it h a st rong se n se of
s el f- ef f ic a c y b el ieve t h at t hey c a n ef fe c t ively
cont rol t he pot ent ial t h reat s f rom t he env i ronme nt , wh ile t hose w it h low self- ef f ica cy of t e n
ex p e r ie nce st rong st r e s s r e a c t ion a nd a n x iet y,
a n d r e s o r t t o p a s sive r e t r e a t o r d efe n sive b e haviors (Tsang & Hui, 2006). Low self-eff icacy
may lead to depression, a sense of pressu re and
f r u st r at ion , wh i le h ig h sel f- ef f ica cy helps one
meet var ious events in life with positive cog nit ive a nd behav ioral pat ter ns such as opt i m ism,
actively seek ing help and solving problems, and
t h e r efo r e p r o d u c e s a s e n s e of wel l - b e i n g a n d
h ig h e r s a t i sf a c t io n w it h o n es l i fe ( I r el a n d &
A r t hu r, 20 0 6; Ts a ng & Hu i , 20 0 6; Z h a ng Ya n
& C h e n F u g u o , 2 0 0 7 ). C o n s i d e r i n g t h e a t t i t udes that college st udents have towards LGBT
people, it is diff icult to f u ndament ally improve
t he publ ics at t it ude s t owa rd s LGBT p e ople i n
the shor t ter m, a sit uation made even worse by
the fact that LGBT people have been living with
t h e s o c i a l p r e s s u r e a n d b i a s . T h e r e fo r e , i t i s
par ticularly impor tant for LGBT people to have

03

II. METHODOLOGY
(1) Sampling Methods

(2) Character istics of Samples

Consider ing the int r insic complexit y of ho -

T h is st udy collected 1,745 competed ques-

mosexualit y, the diversif ied social at tit udes to -

t i o n n a i r e s , a n d 57 o f t h e m w e r e t r i a l q u e s -

wards homosexualit y and mat ter of pr ivacy (Liu

t ion nai re s col le ct e d f rom a n eve nt held by t he

Hu a qi ng et al., 20 0 0), i n orde r t o i mprove t he

B e iji n g L G B T C e n t e r a n d 1, 6 8 8 f r o m o n l i n e

st udy's eff iciency and reliabilit y, we cooperated

sou rce s. O n ly t he on l i ne su r vey's re su lt s we re

w it h a nu m b e r of L GBT NG O s , w h ich h elp e d

u se d . A mong t he 1,688 on l i ne q ue st ion n a i r e s ,

p r o m ot e t h i s s t u d y a n d r e c r u it e d r e s p o n d e nt s

35 we re f rom het e rosex u a l p e ople, 1, 291 f rom

on Weibo, Douban.com, their off icial webpages,

homo s ex u a l p e o ple, 248 f r om bi s ex u a l p e o ple

WeChat, feizan.com, QQ g roups and at va r ious

a nd 114 f rom t hose who we re u nde cide d about

c om mu n it y eve nt s. We u s e d a no ny mou s , s el f-

their sexual or ientation. Due to the LGBT focus

ad ministered question naires to conduct the su r-

of this st udy, we excluded the 35 question naires

vey.

f rom the heterosexual people, leavi ng f i nal

a s a m ple si z e of 1,635. T h e fol low i n g d a t a i s
based on the analysis of these samples.

04

1.12%

1. Gender
A mong the 1,653 f inal samples, 958
we re m ale, 675 fe m ale, a nd 20 i nt e r sex

Male

(Fig.1).

40.83%

57.69%

Female
Intersex

Fig.1 The respondents' sex distribution.

2. Age
1,625 p e o ple i n t h i s s t u d y r e p o r t e d t h e i r

Div id i ng t he g roup w it h a cut- of f poi nt of

a g e s . T h e y o u n g e s t r e s p o n d e n t i s 14 y e a r s

18 ye a r s old , t he age d i st r ibut ion w it h ge nde r

old wh ile t he oldest 48. T he average age is

infor mation is show n in Table 1:

23.644.67 years. 134 respondents are 18 years

old or you nge r (8. 25%), a nd 1491 r e s p ond e nt s
are 19 years old or older (90.20%). See Fig.2 for
the respondents' age dist r ibution:

5.66%
19.75%

2.46%

8.25%
18 and younger

Table 1: The gender/age distribution

Male Female

19-25
26-30
31-35

63.88%

36 and older

18 years or younger
Adult
Unfilled

Fig.2 The respondents' age distribution

05

3. Education Background
A m o n g 1,626 r e s p o n d e n t s w h o r e s p o n d e d t o
the question of the highest deg ree ear ned, 320 have
d e g r e e s b e l ow j u n i o r c ol l e g e; 4 45 w i t h a j u n i o r
c o l l e g e d e g r e e ; 752 w i t h a c o l l e g e d e g r e e a n d
109 w it h a M A deg ree or above. See Fig.3 for t he
respondents' academic deg ree dist r ibution:

6.70%

19.68%

Below junior college

Junior college

46.25%

College

27.37%

Fig.3 The respondents' academic degree distribution.

Table 2 The academic degree distribution by gender

Male
Below junior college
Junior college
College
MA and above

06

Female

MA and above

4. Employment Stat us
76 0 r e s p o n d e nt s we r e s t u d e nt s
a t t h e t i m e o f t h e s u r v e y ; 7 71 w e r e
e mploye d a nd 122 u ne mploye d . Se e
Fig.4 for t he re s p onde nt s' e mploy me nt
s t a t u s d i s t r i b u t i o n , a n d Fi g . 5 fo r t h e
dist r ibution by gender.

7.38%

Students

46.64%

45.97%

Employed
Unemployed

Fig.4 The respondents' employment status distribution

45.20%

47.81%

46.96%

7.38%

Students
Employed
Unemployed

6.99%

Male

7.38%

Female

Fig.5 employment distribution by gender

07

5. Mar riage stat us

1,597 respondent s we re u n ma r r ied (96.61%), 37 we re
mar r ied(2.24%), with 27 men and 10 women. 18 respondents
w e r e d i vo r c e d (1.0 9 %) , w i t h 11 m e n a n d 7 wo m e n . O n e
female respondent was widowed(0.06%).

6. Regional distribution
T h i s s t u d y c ove r e d 2 6 p r ov i n c e s , 4 m u n i c i p a l i t ie s ,
H o n g K o n g a n d M a c a u S p e c i a l Ad m i n i s t r a t i ve R e g i o n s
i n Ch i na. I n a dd it ion, 19 respondent s were f rom over seas
(Fig.6; Table 3).

above 100
51-100
11-50
1-10
None

Fig.6 Region and respective number of people distribution

08

Table 3 The regional/individuals' distribution.

Numbers Percent (%)

Two residences
Anhui
Macau
Beijing
Fujian
Gansu
Guangdong
Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region
Guizhou
Hai'nan
Hebei
He'nan
Heilongjiang
Hubei
Hu'nan
Jilin
Jiangsu
Jiangxi
Liaoning
Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region
Other countries
Qinghai
Shandong
Shanxi
Shaanxi
Shanghai
Sichuan
Tianjin
Tibet Autonomous Region
Hong Kong
Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region
Yunnan
Zhejiang
Chongqing Municipality

26
31
5
282
57
16
167
39
22
8
46
48
25
52
53
24
82
25
59
26
19
2
78
27
50
83
83
26
6
6
13
28
79
60

1.57
1.88
0.30
17.06
3.45
0.97
10.10
2.36
1.33
0.48
2.78
2.90
1.51
3.15
3.21
1.45
4.96
1.51
3.57
1.57
1.15
0.12
4.72
1.63
3.02
5.02
5.02
1.57
0.36
0.36
0.79
1.69
4.78
3.63

The dist ribution of the

re sp onde nt s f rom ove r se a s is a s
f o l l o w s : T h e U n i t e d S t a t e s (4) ,
C a n a d a (2), R u s si a (2), Sp a i n (2),
Ja p a n (2), Ko r e a (2), T h e Un it e d
K i ngdom (1), Fr a nc e (1), It a ly (1),
Iceland(1), Malaysia(1).

09

(3) Assessment Tools

1. Sexual or ientation, self-acceptance, and marr iage stat us

2. Depression
The Center for Epidemiological St udies De-

We asked the respondents whether they had

pression Scale (CES-D) was created by Radloff

id e nt i f ie d t hei r s ex u a l or ie nt at io n , wh at t hei r

f rom the A mer ican National Instit ute of Mental

or ient at ion was, whether they accepted thei r

Healt h i n 1977. I n it ial ly desig ned t o st udy t he

sexual or ientation, and how they judged whether

relat ive factors i n depressive sy mptoms and its

or not a person is homosexual.

developi ng pat ter n , it is w idely u sed to screen

Based on the Sexual Or ient ation Question-

the depressive sy mptoms in the general popula-

nai re (SOQ) ( Baeck , Cor t hals & Bor sel, 2011),

t io n , a p pl ic a ble t o yo u t h s , a d u lt s a n d eld e rly

we a d a pt e d a homo s ex u a l id e nt i f ic at ion q ue s -

people (Zhang Jie et al., 2010).

tion naire compr ising 5 questions: if the respon-

CES-D has a nu mber of simplif ied versions

dents have been at t racted to people of same sex;

such as ones with 8 or 10 questions. This st udy

i f t he y h ave h a d s a m e - s ex i nt i m a t e b e h av io r s

used the simplif ied Chi nese version of CESD -9

(such as embraces and k isses); if they have had

(He Jin et al., 2013). It removed the questions on

homosexu al behaviors a nd if t hey have had

i nt er per sonal d i men sion a nd a few ot her item s

s a me - sex p a r t ne r s. T h is st udy 's c o ef f icie nt of

af ter t ranslation and adaption f rom the or iginal

inter nal consistency is 0.61.

version. CESD -9 includes 9 questions, of which

B e s i d e s , t h e q u e s t i o n n a i r e a l s o i n cl u d e s

2 a re rever se scor i ng quest ions, request i ng t he

t he follow i ng quest ions: if t he respondent s ap -

respondent to use 0 -3 to assess the f requency of

prove of sa me -sex ma r r iage; if they have come

t he sy mpt om s du r i ng t he pa st we ek. CESD -9 's

out (revealed their homosexual or ientation) and,

coeff icient of inter nal consistency in this st udy

if yes, the people they had come out to (multiple

is 0.89.

ch oic e); i f t h e y h ave c o n sid e r e d c o o p e r a t ive

mar r iage (mar r iage bet ween a gay man and lesbia n woma n), a nd if t hey have con side red heterosexual (de facto) mar r iage.

10

3. Self-eff icacy
T h is st udy ut i l i ze d t he Ge ne r al Sel f-Ef f icacy Scale (GSES) to assess the LGBT people's

4. The need for mental health ser vices

The st udy of LGBT people's need for mental health ser vices includes 6 questions:

s el f- ef f i c a c y. G SE S i s d e s ig n e d b y P r ofe s s o r

(1) i f t h e y h a v e r e c e i v e d p s y c h o l o g i c a l

R a l f S c hw a r z e r, a f a m o u s cl i n ic a l a n d h e a lt h

cou nseli ng a nd psychot herapy or ot her psycho -

psychologist together with his colleag ues at Free

log ic a l s e r v ic e s ( "p s ych olog ic a l s e r v ic e s") i n

Universit y of Berlin, Ger many. In the begin ning

the past 12 months;

it included 20 items, which later were expanded

reduced to 10. The cu r rent scale has been t ranslated into at least 25 lang uages and widely used
arou nd the world. The Chinese version of GSES
wa s f i r st u se d for t he f r e sh me n cla s s i n Hong
Kong i n 1995 by Z ha ng Jia n x i n a nd Schwa r zer

(2) re a son s for se ek i ng psycholog ical se rvices;

(3) if t hey have con side red re ceiv i ng psychological ser vices in the past 12 months;
(4) the k ind of instit ution they would go for
the psychological ser vices;

(Zhang & Schwarzer, 1995). In 2013, Chen Zhi-

(5) what k ind of help they want to obtain;

ya n t ra nslated a new Ch i nese version a nd used

(6) reasons for not consider ing psychologi-

it i n t he G r a du ate School of Ch i nese Aca demy

cal ser vices.

of Scie nce s. T h is st udy u se d t he C he n Z h iya n

version. The GSES's coeff icient of inter nal consistency is 0.87.

5. Basic infor mation

The basic infor mation par t includes 8 questions: the respondent's sex, age, eth nicit y, place
of residence, highest education deg ree, employment st at u s, ma r r iage st at u s a nd t he gender of
their spouse.

11

III. R ESULTS
(1) Sexual orientation, self-acceptance, and mar riage stat us
1.1 Sexual orientation
A m o n g 1, 6 53 r e s p o n d e n t s ,
1, 291 a r e h o m o s e x u a l , 2 4 8
bisexual and 144 u ncer t ai n about
their sexual orientation. See
Fig .7 fo r t h e s e x u a l o r i e n t a t i o n
dist r ibution:

6.90%

S e e Ta b l e 4 f o r t h e s e x u a l
or ientation dist r ibution.

15.00%

Homosexual
Bisexual

72.1%

Uncertain

Fig.7 The sexual orientation distribution.

Table 4 The sexual orientations distribution status by sex

Male Female Intersex

12

Homosexual

768

507

16

Bisexual

127

117

Uncertain

63

51

1.2 Self-acceptance
T he result shows that among the f i nal
r e s p o n d e n t s , 1, 512 r e s p o n d e n t s (91. 47 %)
a c c e p t t h e i r s e x u a l o r i e n t a t i o n s w h i l e 141
respondents(8.53%)do not. (Fig.8)
T he pr op or t ion of a c c e pt a nc e a mong me n
is 90.29% and 92.89% among women. T he
propor tions bet ween men and women are similar
and do not differ sig nif icantly.

8.53%

Yes

91.47%

No

Fig.8 Acceptance of sexual orientations.

13

1.3 Disclosure stat us

A s s h ow n i n Fig.9, a m o n g t h e
respondents who accept their sexual
o r ie nt a t io n , 774 (6 0.0 0 %) h ave c o m e o u t
and 517(40.00%)have not.

40%

Yes

60%

No

Fig.9 Disclosure status

T here is no sig n if icant difference bet ween
m e n a n d w o m e n . S e e Fi g .10 f o r t h e e x a c t
percentages.
Compared with the respondents who do
not a c ce pt t hei r sex u a l or ie nt at ion , t hose who
a c c e p t t h e i r s e x u a l o r ie n t a t io n h ave a h ig h e r
percentage of coming out (Fig.11).

56.22%

32.62%

Male

Female

Fig.10
The coming out percentages of males and females.

14

Those who
accept it

Those who
deny it

Fig.11
Acceptance of their sexual orientation
and disclosure status.

We asked if the respondents chose to come

o u t t o t h e i r f r ie n d s i n t h e L GBT c o m m u n it y,
f r iends of the opposite sex, f r iends of the same
s ex , o r r el a t ive s (a mu lt iple choic e q u e s t io n).
T he resu lt shows t hat t he f r iend s i n t he LGBT
c om mu n it y we r e cho s e n 586 t i me s , f r ie nd s of
o p p o s i t e s e x 53 0 t i m e s , f r i e n d s o f t h e s a m e
sex 660 t i mes and relat ives 307 t i mes. T he
respondents who came out to their relatives have
t he lowe s t p e r c e nt a ge a mong t he fou r g r ou p s.
S e e F i g .1 2 f o r t h e p e r c e n t a g e s o f t h e f o u r
choices.
73.66%
65.40%
59.15%

34.26%

Friends from Friends of the Friends of

LGBT community opposite sex the same sex

Family and
relatives

Fig.12 Whom they came out to

15

1.4 Same-sex par tners and intimate behaviors

T h e r e s u l t s h ow s t h a t 1, 0 0 4 r e s p o n d e n t s
(6 0 .74 %) h a v e h a d s a m e - s e x p a r t n e r s (w i t h
com mit ted relationship of longer than 6 months);
73.38% of t he r e s p ond e nt s h ave h a d s a me - s ex
sex u al a ct s a nd 90.62% ha d sa me -sex i nt i mat e
behaviors (such as embraces and k isses)(Fig.13).

Same-sex partners

60.74%
73.38%

Homosexual acts

90.62%

Same-sex intimate acts

Fig.13 Same-gender partners and intimate behaviors.

Chi-square test shows that a higher

Chi-square test shows that compared with

propor t ion of t he female respondent s have

those who do not accept their sexual or ientation,

h a d s a m e - s e x p a r t n e r s t h a n m a le r e s p o n d e nt s

those who do a re more li kely to have same -sex

( =30.15, p 0.0 01), but t he t wo gender s do not

intimate behaviors ( 2 =17.32, p0.001), same-sex

d if fer sig n if ica ntly for t hei r sa me -sex i nt i mate

sexual behaviors ( 2 =9.50, p0.01) and same-sex

behav ior s. See Fig.14 for percent ages of sa me -

par t ners( 2 =32.55, p0.001).

sex par t ners and same-sex intimate behaviors.

Same-sex partners

Homosexual acts

Male

55.11%
68.59%

74.21%
72.44%

Same-sex intimate acts

Fig.14 LGBT peoples same-sex partners and intimate behaviors by sex.

16

Female

90.08%
91.70%

1.5 Attit udes toward mar riage

This study mainly aims to understand
LGBT people's at tit udes toward mar r iage
b y a s k i n g t h r e e q u e s t i o n s : 1) i f t h e y a c c e p t
s a m e - s ex m a r r i a ge; 2) i f t h e y wou ld c o n sid e r

45.75%

c o o p e r a t i v e m a r r i a g e , a n d 3) i f t h e y w o u l d

54.27%

consider heterosexual mar r iage. The result

shows t hat 1,623 re sponde nt s(98.22%)a cce pt ed
same-sex mar r iage, 897 (54.27%) had considered
c o o p e r a t i v e m a r r i a g e , a n d 636 (38 . 4 8 %) h a d
c on side r e d het e r o s ex u a l m a r r ia ge. Se e Fig.15,
Fig.16 for the specif ic propor tions.

Fig.15 If the respondents have considered

marriage of convenience.

38.48%

Yes

61.52%

T he re su lt shows t hat a h ig he r prop or t ion

2

o f w o m e n ( = 9. 8 8 , p 0 . 01) a c c e p t s a m e - s e x

No

Fig.16 If the respondents have considered

heterosexual marriage.

mar r iage than men; and a higher propor tion

o f m e n ( 2= 9. 9 9, p 0 . 01) h a v e c o n s i d e r e d
het e rosex u al ma r r iage t ha n wome n. Se e Fig.17
for the dist r ibution of at tit udes by gender.

97.29%

Those who accept same-sex

marriage

99.41%

Those who have considered

cooperative marriage

Those who have considered

heterosexual marriage

55.43%
52.89%

41.96%
34.22%

Male
Female

Fig.17 The attitude by gender of LGBT people.

17

(2) Depression
1. The overall stat us of CESD-9
T h e r e s p o n d e n t s C E S D - 9 m e a n s c o r e i s
10.41 6 .43. C E SD -9 s e t s t h e c u t- of f p o i n t of

From the perspective of employ ment stat us,

among the LGBT adults, the u nemployed LGBT
p e o p l e h a v e t h e h i g h e s t s c o r e (1 2 . 91 6 . 4 9) ,
higher than the st udents and the employed.

de pressive t e nde ncy at 10 a nd t he h ig h r isk of

de pr e s sion at 17 ( He Ji n et a l., 2013). T he r e sult shows that 29.88% of the respondents have
de pressive tendency a nd 20.02% li kely to have
high r isk of depression.
S e t t i n g 18 a s t h e c u t- of f a ge , we r eg a r d e d t h o s e w h o a r e 18 y e a r s o l d a n d y o u n g e r
a s yo u t h s a n d r e s p o n d e nt s old e r t h a n 18 a s
a d u lt s. T he r e s u lt shows t h a t L GBT yout hs
CESD -9 average score is 11.60 6.17 and LGBT
a du lt s score is 10.29 6.47. T t e st re su lt shows
that LGBT youths CESD -9 score is sig nif icantly higher than LGBT adults(t =2.26, p<0.05).
CESD -9 score s do not d if fe r sig n if ica ntly
among LGBT men, women and i ntersex people;
n o r d o t h e y d i f f e r s i g n i f i c a n t l y b e t we e n h o mosexu al people (10.30 6.45)a nd bisexu al peo ple (9.935.96). T he mai n d if ference is t hat t he
g r ou p who h ave not ye t a c c e pt e d t hei r s ex u a l
o r ie nt a t io n wo u ld h ave a sig n i f ic a nt ly h ig h e r
C E SD -9 s c o r e t h a n h o m o s e x u a l a n d b i s e x u a l
people(F=8.524, p<0.001), that is, the people uncer tain of their sexual or ientation are more likely to be de presse d. Fu r t he r a nalysis ha s fou nd
t hat a mong 114 re sponde nt s who a re u nce r t ai n
of thei r sexual or ient at ion, 35.08% have a h ig h
r isk of depression. LGBT people who do not acc e p t t h e i r s e x u a l o r ie nt a t io n (12 . 30 6. 27 ) h ave
a sig nif icantly higher CESD -9 score than those
w h o a c c e p t t h e i r s e x u a l o r i e n t a t i o n (t = -3. 6 5,
p<0.0 01), and the respondents who accept thei r
sexual or ientation have a mean CESD -9 score of
10.246.43.
From t he p e r sp e ct ive of whet he r or not
t hey h ave c ome out , t hose who h ave not c ome
o u t h a ve a s i g n i f i c a n t l y h i g h e r m e a n C E S D 9 s c or e (10.8 4 6.62) t h a n t ho s e who h ave c ome
out(10.056.26), t =-2.60, p<0.05.

18

2. Comparisons with other

demographic groups
I n 20 08, the I nst it ute of Psycholog y of the
C h i ne se Aca de my of Scie nce s conduct e d a n at ion a l r e s e a r ch s t u d y on p s ycholog ic a l he a lt h ,
w h i c h b a s e d i t s s a m pl i n g d i s t r i b u t i o n o n t h e
dist r ibution of region, gender, age and education
f r o m a n a t io n a l c e n s u s . T h e r e s e a r ch c ove r e d
39 cit ie s of 21 prov i nce s (aut onomou s reg ion s,
mu nicipalities) and su r veyed 16,636 people with
16 , 2 2 8 v a l i d q u e s t io n n a i r e s . 49.0 % of t h e r e s p onde nt s we r e m a le. T he age r a nge wa s f rom
11 t o 10 0, w it h a me a n a ge of 37.721.3 ye a r s
old. We have chosen the 18-year-old and you nger
s a m p l e s ( N =3 8 7 9) a n d a d u l t s a m p l e s (19 -5 0
y e a r s o l d , N = 5 4 01) t o c o m p a r e w i t h r e s p e c t ive L GBT g r o u p s i n t h i s s t u d y. T- t e s t s h ow s
that the LGBT youths have sig n if icantly h ig her
(t = 9.103, p <0.0 01= de pression score (11.60 6.17)
t h a n t h e n a t i o n a l y o u t h s a m p l e s (6 .75 5. 9 4 ) ,
and the LGBT adult group have signif ic a n t l y h i g h e r (t = 2 6 . 817, p < 0 . 0 01) d e p r e s s i o n
score (10.29 6.47) t ha n t he n at ion al a du lt sa mples (5.25.31).
From the perspective of the depression score distribution, Chi-square test
shows that sig n if icantly h ig her propor t ions
of LGBT yout hs have depression tendency
a n d h i g h r i s k of d e p r e s s i o n t h a n t h e n a t i o n w i d e y o u t h s a m p l e s ( 2 = 91. 91, p 0 . 0 01) , a n d
sig n if icantly h ig her propor t ions of LGBT
adults have depression tendency and high
r i s k of d e p r e s s io n t h a n t h e n a t io n -w i d e a d u lt
s a m pl e s ( 2 =1050. 59, p 0.0 01). A p p a r e n t l y, t h e
LGBT youths high r isk of depression propor tion
is 3 times that of the nation-wide youth (Fig.19)

11.60
10.29

a n d t h e L G B T a d u l t s h i g h r i s k of d e pression propor tion is 4 times that of the

nation-wide adults (Fig.20).

6.75

He r e a r e t he C ESD -9 s c or e s d i s t r i-

5.20

b u t i o n c o m p a r i s o n s b e t we e n t h e L G BT

The national
sample

yout h a nd n at ion-w ide yout h , a s wel l a s

the LGBT adults and nation-wide adults:

LGBT group
Youngsters

Adults

Fig.18 The CESD-9 score comparisons:

LGBT groups versus national samples.
75.80%
The national
youngsters
LGBT
youngsters
41.79%
35.07%
23.13%
16.80%
7.40%

No tendency
for depression

A high risk of
depression

Fig.19 Comparison between

LGBT youths and nation-wide youth.

I n c onclu sion , t h is st udy f i nd s t h at

LGBT g roups depression level is sig nif i-

With a tendency
for depression

78.80%

ca ntly h ig he r t h a n t he n at ion-w ide sa mples, both for youth and adults. T he pro p or t ion of L GBT g r ou p w it h d e p r e s sion
tendency and a high r isk of depression is
sig n i f ica ntly h ig he r t h a n t h at of n at ion-

The national
adults
50.97%

LGBT adults

wide samples.
In the LGBT com mu nit y itself, there
are 5 sub-g roups with a higher r isk of de -

29.38%

pression: 1) minors (you nger than 18), 2)

t hose who a re u ncer t ai n about t hei r sexu a l or ie nt at ion , 3) t hose who de ny t hei r
sexual or ientation, 4) those who have not

4.50%

come out, and 5) those who are unemployed.

19.65%

16.70%

No tendency
for depression

With a tendency
for depression

A high risk of
depression

Fig.20 Comparison between

LGBT adults and nation-wide adults.

19

(3) Self-eff icacy

A h e a l t h y s e l f- e f f i c a c y l e ve l m e a n s t h a t

C h i n e s e Ac a d e my of S c ie n c e s fo r t h e i r s e n s e

one has a positive view of oneself, and that this

of s el f- ef f ic a c y. T h e T- t e s t s h ow s t h a t L GBT

view of oneself matches the realit y. A low level

g r o u p w i t h a M A d e g r e e o r a b ove h a d a s ig-

of s e l f- e f f i c a c y i n f l i c t s o n e w i t h s e l f- b l a m e

n if ica ntly lower (t = -7.77, p <0.0 01) sense of self-

a nd s el f- d ou bt , a nd s u ch a p e r s on i s l i kely t o

eff icacy (29.814.50) than the CAS postg raduate

b e t r ou ble d by d e p r e s sio n a n d a n x ie t y a n d t o

g roup(33.153.82).

f ind it diff icult to use their abilities. This st udy

f inds the respondents average score on sense of
self-eff icacy is 27.265.29.
From the perspect ive of the LGBT g roups,
w e h a v e f o u n d t h a t (1) d i f f e r e n t s e x e s d o n o t
d if fe r sig n if ica ntly i n t hei r sen ses of selfeff icacy(F =1.374, p>0.05); (2)T he LGBT youths
s e n s e o f s e l f - e f f i c a c y (2 4 . 59 5.18) i s s i g n i f i c a n t l y l o w e r t h a n ( t = - 5 . 5 9 2 , p < 0 . 0 0 1) L G B T
a d u lt s (27. 52 5. 24); (3)T he r e s p ond e nt s u nc e rt a i n of t h e i r s e x u a l o r i e n t a t i o n (2 5. 65 5. 36 )
have sig n if ica ntly lowe r se n se of sel f- ef f ica cy
(F =5.730, p < 0.01)t h a n homosex u al (27.37 5.31)
a n d b i s e x u a l r e s p o n d e n t s (27.43 5.01), b u t t h e
homo s ex u a l a nd bi s ex u a l p e ople do not d i f fe r
sig n if ica ntly; (4)T hose who have not come out
(26.9 7 5.12) h ave lowe r s c o r e s (t =2 .0 8 , p < 0.05 )
t h a n t h o s e w h o h a v e c o m e o u t ( 2 7. 51 5. 4 2) ;
(5)A mong L GBT a d u lt s , t he u ne m ploye d (2 4.9 6 5.47 ) a r e sig n i f ic a nt ly lowe r
(F = 9.428, p <0.0 01)t ha n st udent s(27.69 5.17)a nd
the employed(26.995.17).
Among the adults, all the groups with
different academic deg rees differ sig nif ic a nt ly f r o m e a ch ot h e r i n t h e i r s e n s e of s el fe f f i c a c y (F =37.76 8 , p < 0.0 01). T h e t e n d e n c y i s
t hat t he h ig her t he deg ree, t he h ig her t he level
self-eff icacy. In 2013, The Instit ute of Psycholog y of the Chinese Academy of Sciences assessed
662 postg raduates f rom the G raduate School of

20

LGBT, below junior college

25.28%

LGBT, junior college

26.65%

LGBT, college

28.00%

LGBT, MA degree and above

30.05%

Graduate students of Chinese

Academy of Sciences

33.15%

Fig.21 The sense of self-efficacy status of groups with different academic degrees.

Si m i l a r t o t h e C E SD -9 r e s u lt , t h i s s t u d y
f inds that, generally, 5 sub-g roups have a lower
sense of self-eff icacy:
1) the minors,
2) t hose who a re u ncer t ai n of t hei r sexu al
or ientation,
3) those who deny their sexual or ientation,
4) those who have not come out,
5) the u nemployed.
T he cor relat ion a nalysis shows t hat t he
c o r r e l a t i o n c o e f f i c i e n t i s r = - 0. 5 42 ( p < 0.0 01).
Reg ression analysis also shows that as the gende r, age a nd sex u al or ie nt at ion a re cont rol le d ,
t he sen se of self- ef f icacy level ca n pred ict t he
d e p r e s sion level , t h at i s , t he h ig he r t he s e n s e
of self- eff icacy, the lower the depression level.
T h i s s u g g e s t s t h a t L G B T g r o u ps d e p r e s s i o n
level may be mitigated if we can effectively improve their sense of self-eff icacy.

21

(4) The need for psychological ser vices

1. Overall demand for psychological ser vices by LGBT people
T h i s s t u d y f i n d s t h a t 116 r e s p o n d e n t s
(7.02%)have received psycholog ical cou n seli ng
and psychotherapy or other psychological
s e r v i c e s ( " p s y c h o l o g i c a l s e r v i c e s" ); 610
r e s p o n d e n t s (36 .0 9 %) h a ve c o n s i d e r e d s e e k i n g
p s ycholog ic a l s e r v ic e s i n t he p a s t 12 mo nt h s;
9 27 r e s p o n d e n t s (56 .0 8 %) h a ve n o t c o n s i d e r e d
psychological ser vices(Fig.22).

7.02%

Those who have received services

56.08% 36.90%

Those who have considered services

No need for services

Fig.22 The overall demand of the psychological services

22

C h i - s q u a r e t e s t s h ow s t h a t , c o m p a r e d
t o wome n , a sig n i f ica nt ly la rge r nu mb e r of
men has received psycholog ical ser v ices,

59.41%

and signif icantly more men have the

need but have not sought psychological

53.86%

ser v ices( = 6.68, p <0.05). See Fig.23 for t he

specif ic dist r ibution by sex.
38.00%
34.96%
Male
Female

8.14%
5.63%

Those who have

received services

Those who
have considered
services

No need for
services

Fig.23 The need for psychological services:

Men compared to women.

I n 2 01 3 , t h e I n s t i t u t e o f P s y c h o l o g y s
resea rch ( N= 662, mea n age 25.732.24)had t he
s a me q ue st ion s. T he r e s u lt shows t h at 13.53%
of t h e p o s t g r a d u a t e s t u d e n t s h a ve a n e e d fo r
p s ycholog ic a l s e r v ic e s. We cho s e t h i s s t u d ys
respondents with a MA or higher degree ( N=102)
for compa r ison. Ch i-squ a re test shows that
sig n i f ic a nt ly m o r e r e s p o n d e nt s w it h a M A o r
h ig he r deg re e i n t h is st udy have t he ne e d s for
p s yc h olog ic a l s e r v ic e s ( p < 0.01) T h i s s u g ge s t s
that with the same academic background,
t h e L GBT g r ou p m ay h ave s t r o nge r n e e d s fo r
psychological ser vices.

23

2. The reasons for psychological ser vices needed

From 610 respondents who have considered
psychological ser vices, the most com mon prob lem they want to solve is to improve their emo tional state, which was chosen by 60.61% of respondents. This is consistent with the relatively
s e r iou s d e p r e s sio n s t a t u s of t he L GBT g r ou p.
O t he r c om mon proble m s i nclude t o solve t he
problems encou ntered in inter personal relations h ip s o r r o m a nt ic r el a t io n s h ip s, t o i m p r ove
self-conf idence, to reduce the dist ress caused
by p oor sel f-a cce pt a nce, t o look for t he ai m
a n d m e a n i n g of o n es l i fe a n d t o h ave b e tter com mu nication with ones family members
(Fig.24).

To improve my mood

60.61%

To solve the problems encountered in

interpersonal relationships or love

48.39%

To improve my confidence

47.71%

To reduce the distress caused by

identification

47.20%

To look for the aim and meaning of my life

46.86%

To have better communication with my

family members

42.44%

To adjust my unbalanced and unfair mental

status

38.88%
35.99%

To cultivate the abilities to adapt to my life

To reduce my loneliness
To help my study and career

31.24%
26.83%

Fig.24 Psychological services needed by LGBT people

24

A mong 116 respondents who have received

p s yc h olog ic a l s e r v ic e s i n t h e l a s t 12 m o nt h s ,
105 ment ioned t he rea sons for doi ng so, wh ich
i n clu d e , p r i m a r i ly, t o i m p r ove my mo o d a nd
p r e s s u r e , fol l owe d b y s ol v i n g p s yc h ol o g i c a l
p r oble m s (de p r e s sion , a n x iet y et c). It i s not e wor thy that 18 respondents sought psychological
cou nseling because of their parents. The specific reasons are su m mar ized as follows (Table 5):

Table 5 The specific reasons for seeking psychological services.

Reasons to receive psychological services Numbers (male/female)
To improve my mood and pressure

21

To solve my psychological problems (depression, anxiety, etc.)

20

To know about myself and my growth

14

To seek consolation, understanding, support, a way out and help

13

(10/3)

Requested/forced by family members

(6/2)

Interpersonal relationship/communicative problems

(2/2)

For the sake of parents

(2/2)

Emotional issues

Conversion Therapy (2 cases were forced by parents)

So the psychologist can tell my parents that

homosexuality is not an illness

(3/0)

To identify my sexual orientation

(1/1)

To have a HIV test

(1/0)

To accept the opposite sex, get married and have children

(1/0)

To solve the dilemma

(1/0)

To understand the counselors attitude towards homosexuality

(1/0)

(15/6)

Note 1

Note 2

Note 3

Note 4

(9/11)
(12/2)

(3/1)
(3/0)

Note 1: O ne case led to conversion t herapy. T h is respondent f illed out t he conversion t herapy quest ion nai re.
Note 2: O ne case led to conversion t herapy du r i ng t he consult at ion as t he cou nselor t r ied to lead t he client to cha nge h is/ her
sexu al or ient at ion. T h is respondent f illed out t he conversion t herapy quest ion nai re.
Note 3: O ne case led to conversion t herapy f rom t hei r or ig i nal pu r pose (to deal wit h t he emot ional issues). T h is respondent
f illed out t he conversion t herapy quest ion nai re.
Note 4: Two cases were forced by t hei r pa rents. T he 3 cases d id not f ill out t he conversion t herapy quest ion nai re.

25

3. The prefer red instit utions to receive psychological ser vices

As show n i n Fig.25, a mong t he 7 k i nd s of
psycholog ical ser v ice agencies, t he pr i ma r y
c h o i c e i s L G B T i n s t i t u t i o n s (c h o s e n b y
a l m o s t 6 0 % of t h e r e s p o n d e n t s), fol l owe d b y
psychological cou nseli ng companies, chosen by
nearly 50%.

57.44%

Beijing LGBT Center or other LGBT institutions

Psychological counseling companies

49.39%

Medical & health institutions

29.60%

Online psychological instruction

28.55%

Psychological instruction by phone

26.44%

Psychological instruction in schools

Psychological counselors' visit

17.87%
11.56%

Fig.25 Channels to receive psychological services

26

4. Reasons preventing LGBT people

from seeking psychological ser vices
A m o n g 610 r e s p o n d e n t s w h o h ave
considered seek i ng psycholog ical ser v ices, 336
say t hat t hey will not seek cou nseli ng ser vices
although they have the need to do so.
T he pr i ma r y concer n is t he cost, followed
b y c o n c e r n a b o u t c o u n s e l o r s s k i l l s . S o m e
respondents also claim that they wor r y that their
sexual or ientation may be revealed, or that they
simply have no chan nels (Fig.26).

Concerns about the cost

30.12%

Concerns about the counselors skills

23.94%

Other concerns

23.94%

No time
Privacy concerns
No channel

16.78%
3.47%
1.74%

Fig.26 The reasons preventing LGBT people from seeking psychological services.

27

IV. DISCUSSION.
T h i s s t u d y i s t h e v e r y f i r s t n a t i o n -w i d e

t i f ic a t io n, t o lo ok fo r t h e a i m a n d m e a n i ng

r e s e a r c h a b o u t L G B T p e o p l es p s yc h ol o g i c a l

of my life a nd to have bet ter com mu n icat ion

he a lt h c ond it ion s a nd t hei r p s ycholog ic a l s e r-

with my family members.

v ice need s. Despite t he ex istence of some pre -

A lt houg h psycholog ical ser v ices a re i n

v iou s psycholog ical healt h st ud ies, t hey a re 1)

g re at de m a nd by LGBT p e ople, a con side r able

r e st r ic t e d t o c e r t a i n r eg ion s w it hout a de q u at e

por tion of them have never sought the ser vices,

s a m p l e s i z e s ; a n d 2) l a c k i n g i n i n c l u s i o n of

due to concer ns about the cost, the cou nselors

le sbia n s a nd bi s ex u a l p e o ple. T h i s s t u d y t hu s

sk i l ls a nd ot he r fa ct or s, a s wel l a s t he fe a r of

ser ves as a supplement to those areas in earlier

exposi ng t hei r sexu al or ient at ion, or havi ng no

st udies.

access to professional help. T h is sit u at ion may

The st udy f inds that LGBT g roups depres-

a g g r av a t e t h e r i s k of L GBT p e o pl es p s yc h o -

sion level (both the youth and the adult g roups)

log ical he alt h proble m s. From t he i n for m at ion

i s sig n i f ic a nt ly h ig h e r t h a n t h e i r n a t io n -w id e

provided by the respondents who have received

cou nter-pa r ts. From the perspect ive of the pro -

psychological ser vices, these are valid concer ns.

por t ion s of t he people who have de pression

For exa mple, we fou nd t hat 18 respondent s re -

tendency and a high depression r isk, the LGBT

ceived psychological cou nseli ng for the sake of

g roup is also higher than the national samples, a

their parents, 2 of whom were forced to receive

f inding that is consistent with the earlier st udies

conver sion t her apy. T h ree of t hem soug ht psy-

i n ot her cou nt r ies. T hose st ud ies also revealed

ch olog ic a l s e r v ic e s n o t b e c a u s e t h e y h a d a ny

r el a t ively p o o r p s ych olog ic a l h e a lt h sit u a t io n

p r oble m s w it h s el f- a c c e p t a n c e , b u t t h e y we r e

and high depression level among LGBT people.

led by the cou nselor/therapist to accept hetero -

S el f- e f f i c a c y i s p r e d i c t i ve of d e p r e s s io n

sexualit y du r ing the consultation. Thus there is

level. Based on the f i n i ngs about self- ef f icacy,

a pressing need to improve the cou nselors/thera-

we ca n see agai n t hat t hese 5 sub -g roups have

p i s t s u n d e r s t a n d i n g of t h e L G B T p e o p l e , t o

relatively low self-eff icacy, which leads to self-

eli m i nate t hei r bias a nd to build t hei r sk ills as

accusat ion, self- doubt, de pression a nd a n x iet y.

LGBT af f i r m i ng psycholog ical cou n selor s a nd

As a result, people with love self- eff icacy f i nd

psychotherapists.

i t h a r d t o f u n c t i o n n o r m a l l y. T h e d e p r e s s i o n

I n rega rd s t o t he cha n nels t o re ceive psy-

le vel a m o n g L GBT p e o ple m ay b e ef fe c t ively

chological ser vices, among the 7 com mon chan-

i m p r ove d i f t h e s e n s e of s el f- ef f ic a c y c a n b e

n el s , t he p r i m a r y choic e i s t he B e iji ng L GBT

improved.

C e nt e r (or ot he r L GBT org a n i z at ion s), cho se n

116 respondents repor ted receiving psycho -

b y n e a r l y 6 0 % of t h e r e s p o n d e n t s . T h i s s u g -

log ica l se r v ice s i n t he la st 12 mont h s , re p or t-

ge s t s t h a t L GBT p e o ple p r efe r t o r e c e ive s e r-

i n g t h a t t h e p r i m a r y r e a s o n w a s t o i m p r ove

vices f rom the instit utions that will accept their

their mood and to relieve pressu re, followed by

sexual or ient ation. However, cu r rently only the

s olv i n g p s yc h olog ic a l p r o ble m s (d e p r e s sio n ,

Beiji ng L GBT C e nt e r a nd t he Beiji ng L e sbia n

an xiet y etc.). 326 respondents considered psy-

Center a re providi ng t hese ser vices. But i n the

cholog ical ser v ices, a nd t hei r pr i ma r y problem

f ut u re, LGBT orga n i zat ion s i n ot he r a rea s ca n

wa s t o i mprove t hei r mo o d, fol lowe d by t o

prov ide t r ai n i ng t o cou n selor s for LGBT com-

solve the problems encou ntered in inter personal

mu n it ie s b a s e d o n t he B eiji ng L GBT C e nt e rs

relat ion sh ips or love, t o i mprove sel f- con f i-

model.

dence, to reduce the dist ress caused by iden-

28

Part II:
Conversion Therapy and
the LGBT Community

I.BACKGROUD
T h e C C M D -3 (C h i n e s e C l a s s i f i c a t i o n of

nat i ng /de c rea si ng sexu al /emot ional at t a ch ment

Mental Disorders, Version 3), published in 2001,

a n d a f fe c t io n t ow a r d s t h o s e of t h e s a m e s e x .

declassif ied homosexualit y as a mental disorder;

However, conver sion t her apy is not cou n seli ng

however, sexual or ientation disorders were in-

or therapy which:

cluded , classif ied as disorders stem m i ng f rom

1. P rov ides acce pt a nce, suppor t, or empa-

sexual development and sexual or ientations; not

thy for LGBT people, or helps them add ress is-

ne c e s s a r i ly abnor m a l i n sex u a l a c t iv it y. How-

sues, gain social suppor t, or explore and develop

ever, t he sexu al development a nd sexu al or ien-

self-identit y;

t at ions of some people may t r igger psychologi-

2. A i m s t o p r e ve nt o r a d d r e s s i l leg a l / u n -

cal disorders such as u nwilli ng ness, hesit ation,

safe sexu al act ivit ies, rega rdless of sexu al or i-

a n x iet y, de pre s sion , a nd pa i n. Some m ay se ek

entation;

t reat ment in order to change their sexual or ient at ion. Sexu al or ie nt at ion d isorde r s i nclude

3. Does not at tempt to change the person's

sexual or ientation.

ho mo s ex u a l it y, bi s ex u a l it y, a nd ot h e r o r u n specif ied sexual indirection disorders.

I n c a s e st u d ie s on homo s ex u a l it y c onve r-

Meanwhile, the public's views of gay

s io n t h e r a p y p u bl i s h e d i n C h i n a , c o u n s el i n g /

people cu r rently remai n u nsha keable. St ud-

t he r apy met ho d s i nclu de p s ychoa n a lysi s , sel f-

ies on percept ions of homosexu alit y with i n t he

ex a m i n a t io n (n e i g u a n) t h e r a py, c og n it ive i n -

past decade in China, as well as LGBT people's

sight therapy, problem-solving therapy, aversion

personal exper iences of societ al pressu re, bot h

t her apy, hor monal t her apy, med icat ion, hy pno -

i ndicate low tolerance of gay people. Tolerance

sis, and elect roconv ulsive therapy (Chen, 2008).

has been fou nd to be positively cor related with

A S c i e n c e & Te c h n ol o g y I n fo r m a t i o n a r t i cl e

emotional dist ance: tolerance levels are highest

(2011) descr ibes in detail the conversion therapy

t owa rd s st r a nge r s , lowe r t owa rd s f r ie nd s , a nd

pe r for med upon one gay ma n. D u r i ng session s

lowest towards family members. Discr imination

# 4 and #5, the therapist conducted role-playing

f rom family members (especially parents) causes

i n t he c ou n sel i ng of f ice. T he pat ie nt wa s re -

g reat pai n to LGBT people. I n sem i-st r uct u red

warded for displayi ng masculi ne behavior; oth-

inter views conducted du r ing the present st udy's

er wise, he was pu nished with am monia water as

f i r s t ph a s e (S e pt e mb e r t o Nove mb e r, 2013), 2

an aversion stimulus. W hen cou nseling ended,

o u t of 4 g ay m e n wh o h a d go n e t h r o u g h c o n -

the pat ient was requi red to wea r a r ubber band

ve r sion t he r apy st at e d t hat t hey ha d no sex u al

a rou nd h is w r ist. He wa s i n st r uct e d t o sn ap it

or ient ation /gender identit y issues, yet had been

against his w r ist repeatedly whenever he thin ks

forced by family members to receive conversion

of men, a nd on ly stop when t he t houg ht s end.

therapy.

Pa s t l i t e r a t u r e o n c o n ve r s i o n t h e r a p y m a i n l y

Conversion therapy refers to psychological

ref lected t he per spect ive of t he cou nselor/

cou nseling or therapy aiming to alter a person's

t h e r a p i s t ; t h e r e s u l t s we r e a l s o e v a l u a t e d b y

sexual or ient ation. T his i nvolves changi ng sex-

therapists. Their general consensus is that their

u al behav ior s a nd gender expression, or eli m i-

patients' sexual or ient ations have been success-

30

f ully altered.

c o n n e c t io n s , i nv i t i n g t h o s e w h o h a d r e c e i ve d

Based on i nfor mation gathered th rough

conve r sion t he r apy t o pa r t icipat e i n t h is st udy.

i nt e r v iews, t wo goals for t he cu r re nt st udy a re

Fou r methods of data collection (online su r veys,

identif ied:

onli ne i nter views, telephone i nter views, and inperson inter views) were offered to par ticipants.

1. To u n d e r s t a n d L GBT c o m mu n it y m e m b e r s' at t it ude s t owa rd s c onve r sion t he r apy a nd

2. Character istics of Samples

reasons for u ndergoi ng conversion t herapy. T he

cu r rent st udy shall st udy the LGBT com mu nit y's
views on conversion therapy. Focusing on LGBT

2 .1 C h a r a c t e r i s t i c s o f T h o s e W h o H a v e
Considered Conversion Therapy

people who receive conversion therapy, we shall

I n t h e c u r r e n t s t u d y, 8 6 5 p a r t i c i p a n t s

a nalyze t hei r com monalit ies a nd reasons for

(52.33%) are aware of conversion therapy, while

seek i ng conversion t herapy. We shall also com-

78 8 (47. 67 %) a r e n o t . N e a r l y o n e - t e n t h (151,

pa re t he m w it h ot he r LGBT pe ople i n t e r m s of

9.14%) of pa r t icipa nt s have considered at tempt-

depression and self-eff icacy.

ing conversion therapy (Fig. 27, Fig. 28).

2. To u nde r st a nd t he p ro c e d u r e a nd met h ods of LGBT conversion therapy. We shall interview LGBT people who have received conversion
therapy so as to u nderstand their motivations for
at tempting conversion therapy; the procedu re of
conversion therapy; and the effects/inf luence of
conversion therapy.

47.67%

II.METHODOLOGY

52.33%

YES
NO

1. Sampling Methods
The general public holds differ ing views on

Fig.27 Whetehr they have heard of conversion therapy

t he c omplex s u bje c t of homo s ex u a l it y, m a k i ng

p e r s o n a l p r iva c y a sig n i f ic a nt c o n c e r n i n t h i s

9.14%

st udy (Liu, 2000). In order to increase eff iciency

and reliabilit y in su r veys, this st udy's researchers cooperated with LGBT com mu n it y NG Os to
f i nd su r vey par ticipants. Social media net works
( i n cl u d i n g We i b o , D o u b a n , of f i c i a l we b s i t e s ,

YES

We C h a t , Fe i z a n , a n d Q Q g r o u p s) a n d of f l i n e
c o m m u n i t y e ve n t s we r e u s e d t o p u bl i c i z e t h e
st udy and recr uit research subjects.

90.87%

NO

Meanwhile, LGBT NGO staff members

c o nt a c t e d c o m mu n it y m e mb e r s t h r o u g h s o c i a l
Fig.28 Whetehr they have considered conversion therapy

31

A m o n g t h e s e 1 51 p a r t i c i p a n t s , 11 3 a r e
male, 36 are female, and 2 are intersex. Men are
sig nif icantly more li kely to consider conversion
t her apy t ha n women a re ( 2 =19.94, p <0.0 01). I n
ter ms of age, 21 are youth or teenagers, 128 are
adults, a nd 2 did not accu rately st ate t hei r age.
Sex and age dist r ibutions are show n in Fig.29.

1.32%
23.84%
MALE
FEMALE
INTERSEX

74.83%

14.09%

18 OR BELOW
ABOVE 18

85.90%

Fig.29 Age and sex distribution among people who have considered coversion therapy

32

Subjects were requested to state their

h ig hest level of educat ion received. 31 received
a secondar y education or below; 52 a vocational
t r a i n i n g d e g r e e; 53 a n u n d e r g r a d u a t e d e g r e e;
a n d 11 r e c e ive d a m a s t e r 's d eg r e e o r a b ove. 4
par ticipants did not accu rately respond with
t hei r h ig hest level of educat ion. 74 pa r t icipa nts
are cu r rently st udents; of the remaining
p a r t i c i p a n t s , 6 3 a r e e m p l o y e d a n d 14 a r e
cu r rently unemployed. Highest level of education
received and employ ment stat us dist r ibutions are
show n in Fig.30.

7.48%

21.09%
Below junior college
Junior college
College

36.05%

MA and above

35.37%
9.27%

Students

41.72%

49.01%

Employed
Unemployed

Fig.30 The respondents' academic degree and employment status distribution

33

144 are not mar ried, 6 are cur rently mar ried,
a nd 1 ha s been d ivorced. Of t he 7 who have
been ma r r ied , 4 a re i n ma r r iages w it h opposite
sex w it hout d isclosi ng t hei r sex u a l or ie nt at ion
t o t hei r p a r t ne r s a nd 3 a r e i n nom i n a l m a r it a l
relations of convenience. 56 have disclosed their
sexual or ientation (are out ) while 95 have not.
Those who have not disclosed are more likely to
consider conversion therapy ( 2 =19.62, p 0.001).
Mar r iage stat us and disclosu re stat us are show n
in Fig.31.

Yes

37.09%
62.91%

No

3.97%
0.66%

Not married
Married

95.36%

Fig.31 Disclosure and marital status

34

Divorce

10 9 p a r t i c i p a n t s a r e h o m o s e x u a l , 2 2
b i s e x u a l , a n d 2 0 u n c e r t a i n . 10 9 id e n t i f y w it h
t h e i r o r i e n t a t i o n (c o n s t i t u t i n g 7. 2 % o f t o t a l
par ticipants who identif y with their or ientation);
42 do not identif y with their or ient ation
(constit uting 29.8% of tot al par ticipants who do
not ide nt i f y). A ch i- squ a re d t e st i nd icat e s t h at
t he propor t ion of subject s who have considered
conversion therapy is higher in subjects who do
not identif y with their or ientation ( 2 =79.21, p
0.001). Dist r ibutions are show n in Fig.32:

13.24%

14.57%

Homosexual
Bisexual
Uncertain

72.19%

Accept sexual orientation

27.81%

Not accept sexual orientation

72.19%

Fig.32 Sexual orientation distribution and acceptance of own sexual orientation

35

Of t he 151 pa r t icipa nt s , 74 c u r r e nt ly h ave

ha d sa me - sex pa r t ne r s ( he re def i ne d a s hav i ng
dated exclusively for over 6 months) and 77 have
not. Those who have not had a same-sex par t ner
a re more l i kely t o con side r conve r sion t he r apy
( 2 = 9. 59, p 0.01). 10 9 h a ve h a d s e x w i t h a
person of the same sex, while 42 have not ( Fig.
33).

Has a same-sex partner

51%

49%

Has not a same-sex partner

Has had same-sex sex

27.81%

Has not had same-sex sex

72.19%

Fig.33 Same-sex relationship status and same-sex sexual history among respondants

36

2.2 Cha r a cter ist ics of T hose W ho Have

Received Conversion Therapy
I n t h i s st u dy, 9 p a r t icip a nt s who t e st i f ie d
that they have received conversion therapy
completed a n on li ne quest ion nai re. I n add it ion,
t he Beiji ng LGBT Center's psychot her apist s
inter viewed another 9 com mu nit y members who
ha d re ceive d conve r sion t he r apy. He nce a t ot al
o f 18 p e o p l e p a r t i c i p a t e d : 6 f r o m B e i j i n g , 3
Sh a ng h a i , 3 Fujia n , 2 Z hejia ng, 1 G u a ngd o ng,
1 G a n s u , 1 I n n e r Mo ngol ia , a nd 1 C ho ngqi ng.
Sample character istics are show n in Table 6.

Table 6 Characteristics of those who have taken conversion therapy

Sexual orientation

Sex
Male 13
Female

Homosexual

17

Bisexual

Age (at the time of therapy)

18 or below

Above 18 14

O f t h e 116 p a r t ic ip a nt s w h o h ave b e e n i n
therapy, 8 were requi red or coerced to do so by
fa m ily member s, but whet her t hei r t her apy was
conversion therapy or not is unclear. Th ree stated
t h at t hey h a d r e c eive d c onve r sion t he r apy, but
did not complete the conversion therapy su r vey.
T he refore, t he se 11 ca se s we re not i nclude d i n
this st udy's conversion therapy data analysis.
I n t h e c o u r s e o f t h i s s t u d y, r e s e a r c h e r s
came into cont act with 5 LGBT people who had
u nd e r gone c onve r sion t he r a py but , for va r iou s
r e a s o n s , d e cl i n e d t o p a r t ic i p a t e. O n e t old t h e
researchers: Sor r y, but this is the one subject I
never want to touch again.

37

3. Research contents
In addition to the psychological health survey of the
LGBT community in Part I, the study also consists of the
following parts:
1) Attitudes towards Conversion Therapy
The study inquires whether the subjects have heard
of conversion therapy, and whether they have considered
conversion therapy or not and why.
2) Procedure of Conversion Therapy
Topics for participants who have received conversion therapy are designed to explore the procedure of
conversion therapy. The same set of topics were used
in both online questionnaires and in-person interviews.
Topics include: 1. Whether or not the participant has been
in conversion therapy; 2. The time and duration of the
therapy; 3. The institution they visited for therapy; 4. The
sex of the therapists; 5. Whether the therapists charged
for therapy or not; 6. Reasons for undergoing therapy; 7.
The number of sessions and length of each session; 8. The
therapists attitudes; 9. Conversion therapy methods used;
10. Whether their sexual orientation was altered or not;
11. How the therapy concluded; and 12. Life changes that
the therapy has effected.

38

III. R ESULTS
1. At tit udes towards Conversion Therapy
Par ticipants received infor mation on
conversion therapy th rough 9 major outlets. The
i nt e r ne t wa s t he mo s t p o pu la r (75.37%), wh i le
n e w s m e d i a wa s s e c o n d (15.19 %). O n ly 2 .42%
b e c a m e a w a r e of c o n v e r s i o n t h e r a p y t h r o u g h
LGBT NGOs (see Fig. 34).

75.37%

Internet
15.19%

News Media
Publications

4.26%

Film/TV

3.80%

Friends

3.68%

LGBT NGOs

2.42%

Family

2.07%

Schools

1.50%

Psychological Organizations

0.92%

Fig.34 How participants became aware of conversion therapy

39

T he 865 pa r t icipa nt s who have hea rd of conve r sion

t h e r a py ye t d e cl i n e d u n d e r goi ng it m a d e t h e i r d e c i sio n o n
following reasons: 1. Viewing conversion therapy un necessar y
due to their positive self-identif ication (285 cases); 2. Tak ing
homosexu alit y/ bisexu alit y a s nor mailt y i nstea d of a d isea se
(207); 3. Believing that sexual or ientations are u nchangeable
a nd t hat conve r sion t he r apy is u n scient if ic/i n hu ma ne (223);
Cu r rently engagi ng i n a romant ic relat ionsh ip (5); 5. Si mply
not wish i ng to cha nge t hei r or ient at ions despite feeli ng t hat
the life of a gay person is diff icult (2) (Fig. 35).

Clear self identification/

Regard conversion therapy as unnecessary

32.95%

Regard sexual orientation as inconvertable/

conversion therapy as inhuman

25.90%
23.93%

Homosexuality or bisexuality is normal

Romantic relations

0.57%

Unwilling to change though life is difficult

0.23%

Fig.35 Reasons participants did not consider conversion therapy

40

2 . Re a s o n s L GBT Pe o ple S e e k i n g C o nve r sio n

Therapy

Re s p o n d e nt s' m o t iv a t io n s fo r u n d e r goi n g
c o n v e r s i o n t h e r a p y i n d i c a t e t h a t o n l y 7. 52 %

Of par ticular i mpor t ance, nearly one-tenth

h ave t a ke n it due t o sel f-ide nt it y issue s; pre s -

of par ticipants were open to u ndergoing conver-

su re f rom family and societ y is the largest fac-

sion therapy. W hen pa r t icipants were asked for

tor. A T-test demonst rates that par ticipants who

their reasons, 133 responded and 18 did not. 10

a re w i l l i ng t o u nde rgo conve r sion t he r apy a nd

m aj o r m o t i v a t i o n s we r e i d e n t i f i e d , w i t h fo r

t h o s e w h o a r e n o t h ave n o sig n i f ic a nt d i f fe r-

pa rent s or fa m ily members as t he foremost

e n c e s i n s c o r e s o n a s e x u a l o r ie n t a t io n s c a le

reason (30 pa r t icipa nts), to alig n w it h societ y

(t =-1.874, p 0.05). Fu r ther more, analysis sug-

and live nor mally in the second place (29), and

ge st s t hat sex u al or ie nt at ion scale score s have

st ress/pain f rom living as an LGBT person in

no sig n i f ic a nt c or r el at ion w it h w i l l i ng ne s s t o

the third (20). The percentages of these motiva-

u ndergo conversion therapy (t = 0.046, p 0.05).

tions are show n in Fig. 36.

I n c onclu sion , it is h ig h ly probable t h at t hose

who consider at tempting conversion therapy are
not doi ng so due to sexu al or ient at ion ident it y
issues.

22.56%

For parents/family
To align with society and live normailly

21.80%

Stress/pain as LGBT people

15.04%

To get married/have children

9.77%

Unclear of oreientation

7.52%

Once discriminated or disapproved by society

6.02%

Experimentation

6.02%
5.26%

Questioning orientation
To understand self

2.26%

Regard homosexuality as abnormal

2.26%

Other

1.50%

Fig.36 Reasons LGBT people seek conversion therapy

41

3. LGBT p e ople w i l l i ng t o u nde rgo c onve r sion

3.2 Lower Self-Eff icacy

t h e r a p y a r e a t h i g h e r r i s k fo r d e p r e s s i o n a n d
A nalysis shows t hat t he mea n self- ef f icacy

have lower self-eff icacy

s c o r e of p a r t i c i p a n t s w h o a r e i n cl i n e d t o u n d e r go c o nve r sio n t h e r a py i s 25.75 4.9 4, wh i le

3.1 Higher R isk of Depression

t h a t of p a r t ic ip a nt s who a r e not i n cl i n e d t o i s
Research shows that par ticipants inclined to

27.415.30. A T-test indicates that those who are

conversion therapy have a mean depression score

w i l l i n g h ave s ig n i f i c a n t l y lowe r s el f- ef f ic a c y

of 12.40 6.64, while par ticipants averse to con-

(t =-3.683, p 0.001).

version therapy have a mean score of 10.216.38.

A T-test shows that depression levels are sig nif ica ntly h ig he r i n pa r t icipa nt s w il l i ng to re ceive
conversion therapy (t =3.992, p 0.001). The dist r ibution of depression scores (Fig.37) and a chisquared test indicate that there is a sig nif icantly
h i g h e r p r o p o r t i o n of s u b j e c t s a t h i g h r i s k of
de pression a mong t hose w illi ng to receive conve r sion t he r a py t h a n a mong t ho s e who a r e not
( 2 =13.817, p 0.001).

51.13%

Has considered conversion therapy

Has not considered conversion therapy
39.74%

29.96%

31.12%

29.14%

18.91%

No depression tendency With depression tendency

High depression tendency

Fig.37 Comparison in depression tendency between those who have

considered conversion therapy and those who have not

42

2. Procedu re and Effects of Conversion Therapy

2) Conversion Therapy Methods

A mong the 18 research subjects' conversion

1) Reasons for Undergoing Conversion Therapy

t he r apy exp e r ie nce s, t he longe st one s la st e d at

T he 18 par ticipants stated the following reasons

least 1 year (3 cases) while the shor test lasted 1

(Table 7):

session. The highest f requency was 3-5 sessions

per week. Methods employed, similar to those in
past conversion therapy case st udies published in
China, include (Table 8):

Table 7 Reasons for u ndergoi ng conversion therapy

Reason Number of cases

Table 8 Methods employed and number of cases

Coercion by parents

Failed relationships

Believing homosexuality to be abnormal

Asking subject to think of the opposite sex's

attractiveness; advising subject to date people of the
opposite sex

Psychological stress

Hypnosis

Socializing difficulty

Aversion therapy and pain therapy

Enforced disclosure of sexual orientation

Oral medication

Fear of AIDS

Sandbox

Experimentation

Suggesting isolation from same-sex groups or partners

Method employed by counselor

Number of cases
6
5
4Note 1
Note 2

Note 1: 2 cases of electroconvulsive therapy.

Note 2: 1 case of administering medication similar to male hormones.

A s Ta ble 7 d e mo n s t r a t e s , c o e r c io n f r o m

Pa r t icipants' responses ident if y the most

parents is given as the most sig nif icant reason

com mon conve r sion t he r apy met hod a s a sk i ng

for receiv i ng conver sion t her apy (6 ca ses). For

subject to thin k of the opposite sex's at t ractive -

i n st a nce, one pa r t icipa nt said i n a n i nt e r v iew:

ness; advisi ng subject to d ate people of t he op -

My m o t h e r t h r e a t e n e d m e b y s a y i n g : i f yo u

posite sex. Since this method appears har mless,

don't go to therapy or t u r n st raight, you'll never

it i s e a si l y ove rlo o ke d o r n o t r e c og n i z e d a s a

g o a b r o a d . A n o t h e r s a i d b u t t h e y [ p a r e n t s]

for m of conversion therapy; however, it may in-

n e ve r a c c e p t e d ... t h e y ' r e a g a i n s t ho m o s ex u a l -

ter vene a nd i mpai r t he subject's self-ident if ica-

it y.

tion. One par ticipant said in an inter view: That

T h e s e c o n d m o s t c it e d r e a s o n w a s f a i le d

therapist pushed all the responsibilit y on me. He

relationships. In inter views, par ticipants stated:

told me that if I f ind a girlf r iend, if I like wom-

W he n my f i r st r elat ion sh ip e nde d , I felt t h at

en, if I become heterosexual, then all my family

life in the [LGBT] circle was awf ul. I was ver y

problems would be solved... The therapy sessions

s t r e s s e d .; A l l d ay it w a s l i ke l i v i n g u n d e r-

made me ver y u ncomfor table. Each session end-

g r o u n d .; T h e r e w a s t o o, t o o mu ch p a i n a n d

ed with me doubting my previous thoughts, [such

conf usion in life being a gay person.

as] wonder ing if it was r ight for me to be gay.

43

The most har mf ul and most easily recog niz-

accept the subject but g uided them towards het-

able methods are aversion therapy and pain ther-

erosexualit y (6 cases); disg ust (2); kind and will-

apy. Th ree par ticipants stated that these methods

i ng to listen (2); neit her suppor ted nor opposed

we r e e x t r e m ely p a i n f u l . Two of t h e s e p a r t ic i -

(1); and embar rassment (1).

p a nt s a l s o r e c e ive d ele c t r o c o nv u l sive t he r a py.

T his is a case of er roneously employing psychiat r ic therapy methods for a non-psychiat r ic psychological disorder. One par ticipant who sought
conversion therapy because of a failed romantic

3 Effects of Conversion Therapy

relat ionsh ip descr ibed t he elect roconv ulsive

therapy he received. The therapist had used th ree

E f f e c t s of c o n v e r s i o n t h e r a p y o n s e x u a l

me t ho d s (ele c t r o c onv u l sive, me d ic a l , a nd p s y-

or ientation: 5 par ticipants said that their sexual

chological therapy) on h i m once per week for 3

or ient ations remai ned u nchanged and 4 felt

months. Each week I received an elect r ic shock

su re r of t hei r sex u al or ie nt at ion s. None of t he

a nd wa s g iven med ici ne to i nduce vom it. D u r-

p a r t icip a nt s i nd ic at e d t h at t hei r s ex u a l or ie n -

i ng h is t reat ment, g uid a nce a nd elect r ic shock s

t at ion wa s a lt e r e d . I n a d d it ion , out of 5 c om -

were ad ministered simultaneously. There was a

mu n it y me mb e r s who h a d r e ceive d c onve r sion

TV in the room. He'd sit you on a chair that had

t he r apy a nd de cl i ne d i nt e r v iews , 4 st at e d t h at

wires and needles on it. A nd then he'd play vid-

their sexual or ientation was u nchanged. A suc-

eos for you, videos of men having sex, and when

cessf ul conversion case was fou nd on an LGBT

t h e v id e o e n d e d a n d yo u we r e fe el i n g k i n d of

social websit e. C u r rently a n a ct ive member on

excited he'd lig htly shock you. If you were i nto

t he websit e, t h is p e r son w rot e on he r/ h is blog

it h e'd s h o ck yo u r e a l ly h a r d . A f t e r t h e s h o ck

t h at she / he h a d b eg u n t o fe el a f fe c t ion t o t he

my he a d wou ld fe el k i nd of d i z z y. A ny way, at

opposite sex f irst with help f rom a therapist and

f irst I'd im mediately ju mp up and resist, f ighting

(later) t h roug h her/ h is ow n deter m i nat ion. T he

back really hard. T hen he'd t r y t al k ing you i nto

researchers contacted the person for details; the

it, telli ng you t hat it's t her apy, you have to ac-

person ag reed on f u r ther com mu nication yet re-

cept it, or the therapy will fail. Thin k about how

searchers were ultimately u nsuccessf ul in inter-

s mo ot h you r l i fe wou ld go i f you s u c c e s sf u l ly

viewing her/ him.

t u r ned ba ck i nto a st r aig ht pe r son. T h i ngs l i ke

Ef fe c t s o n s el f-id e nt i f ic a t io n : 3 r e p o r t e d

t hat to ma ke you go back. Later he said , if you

t h a t c o n ve r s i o n t h e r a p y d i s t u r b e d t h e i r s e l f-

r e a l ly c a n' t st a nd it , we c a n u s e le at he r st r ap s

ident if icat ion a nd i nduced i n ner con f lict s w it h

to secu re you. The shock will last for a few sec-

their sexual or ientation; 2 repor ted that it

onds, but don't wor r y, you r life won't be i n any

caused self-hat red.

danger.

Effects on emotions and social ad apt at ion:

W h e n p a r t i c i p a n t s i n c o n ve r s i o n t h e r a p y

ext reme pain (2 cases), increased depression (1),

told t hei r t her apist s about t hei r sexu al or ient a-

no improvement in an xiet y (1), light masochistic

t i o n s , t h e r a p i s t s /c o u n s e l o r s (e x c l u d i n g t h e 2

tendencies (1), and 1 year off f rom school (1).

t he r apist s who u se d ele ct ro conv u lsive t he r apy)

d i s pl aye d t he fol low i ng a t t it u d e s: a p p e a r e d t o

44

IV. DISCUSSION

conver sion t her apy) is r aised , it may help t hem

ef fect ively protect agai nst st ress and seek positive problem-solvi ng t actics. Extensive research

1. Subjects Inclined towards Conversion Therapy

In this st udy, nearly one-tenth (151 par ticip a n t s , 9.14%) of p a r t i c i p a n t s h ave c o n s i d e r e d
conversion therapy. Ver y few do so due to selfident it y issues; t he foremost rea son is pressu re
f rom family or societ y. It is highly probable that
LGBT people a re not consider i ng conver sion
therapy due to sexual or ientation identit y issues.
C omp a r e d w it h L GBT p e ople who do not w i sh
to u ndergo conversion therapy, those who do so
ge ne r a l ly h ave h ig he r level s of de pr e s sion a nd
lower self-eff icacy.
Self- ef f icacy is def i ned as overall selfcon f idence whe n fa ci ng chal le nge s i n d if fe rent
envi ron ments or encou nter ing new sit uations. It
is a general evaluat ion of one's abilit ies to successf ully cope with challenges. Individuals with
high self-eff icacy believe they are able to effectively cont rol potential th reats i n thei r envi ronme nt . T hey a r e mor e l i kely t o fa c e l i fe eve nt s
w it h a ct ive cog n it ive a nd behav ior st yle s (e.g.,
o pt i m i s m , s e e k i ng for help, a nd p r oble m s olvi ng). T hey may expe r ie nce more happi ness a nd
m o r e l i fe s a t i sf a c t io n a s a r e s u lt . Me a nw h i le ,
i ndividu als wit h low self- ef f icacy of ten exper ience st rong st ress responses and an xiet y, which
leads to depression, a sense of pressu re, and sadness. T hey a re more li kely to employ a pa ssive
at tit ude of avoidance. As societal discr imination
agai nst LGBT people is u n li kely to cha nge i n a
shor t per iod of time, LGBT people with low selfef f icacy may f i nd it more dif f icult to deal wit h
bigot r y and solve real-life problems u nder these
circu mstances.
I f ge ne r al sel f- ef f ica cy i n t he LGBT com mu n it y (e sp e cial ly a mong me mb e r s i ncl i ne d t o

by Bandu ra et al. has show n that self-eff icacy is

m ai n ly for me d t h roug h fou r rout e s: 1. Pa st exper ience: exper iences of success help raise selfef f ic a c y, wh i le f a i lu r e lowe r s it . 2 . Mo d el i ng:
i f a n i n d iv id u a l o b s e r ve s a si m i l a r i n d iv id u a l
succeeding th rough hard work, they will believe
that they too are able to succeed; conversely, ob ser vation of failu res causes doubt in the obser ver's ow n abilit ies i n si m ila r act iv it ies. Fu r t hermo r e, t he mo r e si m i l a r t he ob s e r ve r p e r c eive s
t he model to be to t hemselves, t he st ronger t he
ef fe ct up on t he obse r ve r 's sel f- ef f ica cy for m ation. 3. Social persuasion: an individual is more
likely to persevere in an activit y if they are persuaded that they have the abilit y to complete it.
4. Emotional states and physiological responses:
e m o t i o n s a f f e c t a n i n d i v i d u a l ' s e v a l u a t i o n of
their ow n abilities; positive emotional states may
i n c r e a s e s el f- ef f ic a c y wh i le n eg a t ive o n e s d e crease it. In conclusion, psychological healthcare
ser v ice t hat i mproves LGBT people's emot ional
st ates and LGBT people acting as positive models may raise general self- eff icacy i n the LGBT
c o m m u n i t y a n d r e d u c e w i l l i n g n e s s t o r e c e ive
conversion therapy.
2. Procedu re and Effects of Conversion Therapy
In this st udy, conversion therapy was show n
t o b e h i g h l y i n e f f e c t i ve a t i t s g o a l of c h a n g i ng t he s ubje ct 's sex u a l or ie nt at ion s. I n t he 18
c a s e s st u d ie d , none r e p or t e d a ch a nge i n t hei r
or ient at ion; f u r t her more, conver sion t her apy
h a s i n f l ict e d c on side r able h a r m a nd pa i n up on
the par ticipants, which may be at t r ibuted to the
u n s cie nt i f ic n at u r e of c onve r sion t he r a py. Ho mosexu alit y has been declassif ied as a disorder

45

i n bot h t he I nt e r nat ional Cla ssif icat ion of Diseases (ICD -10) and the Diag nostic and Statistical
Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-I V); however,

V. I N A D E Q UAC Y
A N D PRO S PE C T S

t h is st udy ha s fou nd no la ck of ca se s i n wh ich

t r e a t m e n t s i n t e n d e d fo r p s yc h i a t r i c d i s o r d e r s

T his research is inadequate in the following as-

we r e u s e d o n g a y p e o pl e . A n o t h e r r e a s o n fo r

pects:

conversion therapy's negative effects may be that

p s ych ot h e r a py/c o u n s el i n g s h o u ld b e , f i r s t a n d

1. Due to the concealment of the LGBT peo-

fo r e m o s t , volu nt a r y, wh i le m o s t L GBT p e o ple

ple, we could only look for those who had gone

received it t h roug h coercion; t hey d id not have

t h r o u g h c o n ve r s i o n t h e r a p i e s t h r o u g h r e l a t e d

severe self-identit y disorders but were forced to

LGBT com mu nities and organizations for conve-

u ndergo therapy by family members and societ y.

nience of sampling, which might cause sampling

Psycholog ical d isorder s a mong LGBT peo -

deviations.

ple are mainly caused by discr imination and bigot r y f rom societ y. Therefore, it is even more cr u-

2. The nu mber of people inter viewed in the

cial for psychot he r apist s t o t re at LGBT cl ie nt s

cu r re nt proje ct who have gone t h roug h conve r-

in a fair and equal man ner. They need to clearly

sio n t h e r a pie s i s s t i l l n ot s u f f ic ie nt c o m p a r e d

i n for m t hese v isitor s t hat homosex u al it y is not

with their wide dist r ibution; the insuff iciency is

a disorder so as to eli m i nate feeli ngs of shame.

also the result of these peoples self-concealment

T her apy should employ af f i r mat ive psycholog i-

and their reluctance to par ticipate the inter views

cal inter vention and use direct methods to reduce

a s c o nve r sio n t h e r a pie s h ave b r ou g ht s o mu ch

sy mptoms; and protect, restore, or increase self-

pain to them. On the other hand, it is likely that

esteem, per for mance, and coping methods (Cao,

some LGBT people have had thei r sexual or ien-

H u , a n d H u a n g 2 012) . R e g r e t t a b l y, f e e d b a c k

t at ion cha nged a nd cut t hei r cont act w it h t he

f rom par ticipants who have received conversion

com mu n it y, hence not able to be cont acted. We

t herapy i nd icates t hat few t herapists were t r uly

may use R DS d r iven sampling methods in the f u-

accepting of the par ticipants' sexual or ientations

t u re to improve ou r research.

whe n d iscu ssi ng t he m i n t he r apy. T he major it y

appeared tolerant but at tempted to g uide par ticipants towards heterosexualit y.

3. This research does not involve any cou ns e l o r s . I n t h e f u t u r e , we m a y c o o p e r a t e w i t h

R e s e a r c h a l s o s h ow s t h a t t h e m ajo r i t y of

relevant instit utions to implement st ratif ied sam-

LGBT people received infor mation on conversion

pl i ng met hod i n order to su r vey t he cou n selor s

t h e r a py t h r o u g h t h e i nt e r n e t a n d n e w s m e d i a ;

and psychiat r ists nationwide to f ind out their at-

ve r y fe w b e c a m e awa r e t h r ou g h L GBT NG O s .

tit udes towards the cou nseli ng and t reat ment of

T h i s s u g ge s t s t h a t mo r e e d u c a t io n a l p r og r a m s

the LGBT people.

are needed to int roduce to the LGBT com mu nit y

the realit y of conversion therapy.

46

Acknowledgments
References
Appendix

Thanks

47

ACK NOWLEDGMENTS
We would like to than k the Ford Fou ndation and the
Los A ngeles LGBT Center for providing f inancial suppor t
for this st udy.
We w o u l d a l s o l i k e t o t h a n k F a n g G a n g 1 , G u o
Xiaofei 2 , Nie Jing 3 , Shen Dong y u 4 and other scholars and
cl i n ical psycholog ist s for rev iew i ng t h is re p or t a nd for
providing valuable com ments and advice.
We w a n t t o t h a n k t h e f o l l o w i n g i n d i v i d u a l s a n d
orga n i zat ions for t hei r help a nd suppor t i n d raf t i ng a nd
f inalizing this repor t:

1.Fa ng Ga ng, P rofessor of Applied Psycholog y; Di rector of Resea rch I nst it ute of Gender a nd Sexu alit y at Beiji ng Forest r y
Un iversit y; g radu ate st udent mentor/i nst r uctor
2.Guo X iaofei, Ph. D Ren m i n Un iversit y of Ch i na; Associate P rofessor of Ch i na Un iversit y of Polit ical Science a nd Law
3.Nie Ji ng, Lect u rer a nd Cou nselor wit h Ment al Healt h Educat ion a nd Consult at ion Center of Pek i ng Un iversit y; Cer t if ied
Psychologist of Ch i na Psychological Societ y of Cli n ical Psycholog y.
4.Shen Dong y u, renow ned psychot herapist

48

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50

APPENDIX I:
Organization
Introduction
The Beijing LGBT Center

LGBT Center i nitiated a research on homosexualit y conversion therapy, ai m i ng to f u r ther pro -

Fou nded on Febr uar y 14th, 2008, Beiji ng LGBT

mote gender d iversit y a nd gender equ alit y edu-

C e n t e r i s a n o n - p r o f i t , c o m m u n i t y - b a s e d o r-

cation.

g a n i z a t io n t h a t e m p owe r s t h e B e iji n g le s bi a n ,
g ay, bi s ex u a l , t r a n sge nd e r ( L GBT ) c om mu n it y
th rough providing social ser vices and organizing

Ch i ne se Academy of Science s (CA S), The I n -

advocacy prog rams. Their work seeks to f u r ther

st itute of Psycholog y ( IP)

the LGBT movement, eli m i nate discr i m i nat ion a nd help t he LGBT com mu n it ies to have a

T he I nst it ute of Psycholog y (I P) of t he Ch i nese

healthy, independent life with dig nit y.

Aca demy of Sciences (CAS) wa s est abl ished i n

To a ch ie ve t h e m i s sio n s a b ove , B e iji n g L GBT

1951 i n Beiji ng. It s p r e de c e s sor wa s t he I n st i-

Center has the following st rategic goals:

t ute of Psycholog y, Academia Sinica, which was

1. To prov ide va r iou s re sou rce s for t he d iscu s-

fou nded in 1929.

sion of LGBT issues and for the LGBT com mu-

T h e i n s t it u t e s t r ive s t o u n d e r s t a n d t h e hu m a n

nit y development.

mi nd by explor i ng both the biological and envi-

2. To prov ide profe ssional psycholog ical aid t o

ron me nt al fa ct or s u nde rly i ng t he m i nd a nd be -

t h e L G B T c o m m u n i t i e s i n B e iji n g a n d L G B T

havior. It also aims to become a world-renow ned

g roups in other regions.

research center that promotes scientif ic i n nova-

3. To b u i l d L G B T-f r i e n d l y n e t wo r k s w i t h e x-

tion and socioeconomic development.

per ts, scholars and LGBT g roups arou nd China.

T he i n st it ut e compr ises t he Div ision of Me nt al

The Mental Health Depar t ment of Beijing LGBT

He a lt h a nd Beh av ior G e ne t ic s , t he D iv i sion of

C e nt e r wa s fou nd e d i n 2010. Si nc e t he n it h a s

C og n it ive a n d D e velo p m e n t a l Ps yc h olog y a n d

been providing professional psychological cou n-

the Division of Social and Engineer ing Psychol-

seli ng ser vices. Now it has a psychological

og y. In addition, the instit ute is home to the CAS

cou nselor team of 14 cer tif ied members, offer ing

Key Laborator y of Ment al Health and the I nst i-

i nd iv idu al a nd tea m cou nseli ng ser v ices. It has

t ut ional Key Laborator y of Behav ioral Science.

ser ved more than 1,000 clients.

IPs main research areas include early identif ica-

Since December 2012, Beijing LGBT Center has

tion and inter vention for mental disorders; social

r e c og n i z e d t he i mp or t a nc e of ge nd e r d ive r sit y

predict ion and decision ma k i ng; disaster and

a d v o c a t e e d u c a t i o n . I t h a s h e l d t h r e e L G B T-

t r au m a p s ycholog y; c y b e r p s ycholog y a nd v i r-

f r iend ly psycholog ical cou n sel i ng t r ai n i ng ses -

t u al behav ior; a nd development, educat ion, a nd

s io n s fo r c e r t i f i e d c o u n s el o r s i n B e iji n g a r e a

the cultivation of creativit y.

and has recr uited more than 80 cou nselors to the

L GBT-f r ie nd ly ne t wo r k . I n Ju ne 2013, B e iji ng

51

Appendix II:
Two Inter views with the Persons W ho had
Gone through Conversion Therapies
I: Inter v iewee A

This Ju ne, his mother was diag nosed cancer and

Male, bor n i n 1996, st ude nt l iv i ng i n Bei-

th reatened h i m that she would not allow h i m to

ji ng. He ha d seve r al boy f r ie nd s but none of

go a b r oa d i f he d id not c ont i nue r e c eiv i ng t he

the relationships last long. He has had sex

therapy and became heterosexual.

w it h males. He is eager to pluck h i mself out of

t he m i s e r ie s he s u f fe r s a s a g ay m a n i n C h i n a

R e c e i v i n g t h e C o nve r s i o n T h e r a p i e s

th rough going abroad.

under his Mother's Pressure

A l l of h i s f r ie n d s a n d cl a s s m a t e s a l r e a d y
k new h is sexu al or ient at ion before he ca me out

I c a me out t o my p a r e nt s i n la s t Nove m -

to his parents. He felt that his f r iends and class-

ber. He ha d been get t i ng along ver y well w it h

mates t houg ht it wa s nor mal. T he on ly d if fer-

h i s m ot h e r. B u t a f t e r h e c a m e ou t , s h e c ou ld

ence bet ween me and them is sexual or ient ation

not u nderst and his bei ng gay. She of ten came

and they never t reated me differently because of

t o t a l k w i t h m e a n d of t e n fel t ve r y d i s c o n s o -

this. He said.

late. His mother told his father about it and his

D u r i ng h is second ju n ior m iddle school

fat hers at t it ude was neit her suppor t i ng nor op -

year, his mother suspected that he was gay. She

posing, which was bet ter than I had imagined.

t o ok h i m t o a c ou n selor at a c ou n sel i ng of f ice

B u t my m ot h e rs r e a c t io n w a s t h a t s h e c o u ld

f o r t e e n a g e r s m e n t a l h e a l t h . T h e c o u n s e l i n g

hardly comprehend and of ten eh h h asked me a

l a s t e d fo r t wo h o u r s . A s h e s a i d , h e d i d n o t

my r iad of questions such as do you have a girl-

have a concept for homosexualit y at that t i me.

f r iend or why on ea r t h is t h is happen i ng a nd

I was still ver y you ng and I did nt want to ad-

still could nt get it st raight, he said.

mit it that early, he said. He discer ned that the

I n e ve r fel t s o b ig a d i f fe r e n c e b e t we e n

cou nselor was probing his sexual or ientation and

m e a n d o t h e r p e o pl e b efo r e I c a m e o u t t o m y

successf ully convinced the cou nselor that he was

p a r e nt s . B u t a f t e r I c a m e ou t , my m ot h e r t old

heterosexual.

me t hat a ny way she felt t h is k i nd of t h i ng wa s

He ca me out t o h is mot he r af t e r a q u a r r el

disg ust i ng. I also th i n k that my mother is quite

with her this year. She could not u nderstand it at

s e n t i m e n t a l i n t h a t s o m e t i m e s ; s h ed r a t h e r I

all and mandated that he receive conversion ther-

c o m m it t e d c r i m e (r a p e) t h a n b e g ay. T h a t s h e

apies. Af ter goi ng to the conversion therapy for

wa s a lways s ay i ng so m a de me fe el l i ke b ei ng

f ive or si x t i mes, he stopped because he had to

cr iminal for real.

prepa re for the exams i n order to st udy abroad.

52

W hat she said would event u ally af fect me

thoug h I did nt li ke them. T hen I st ar ted thi n k-

pensive and I did nt want to receive therapy like

i ng t h at it wa s i nd e e d d i f f ic u lt for g ay p e ople

this. The more he wanted to cu re me, the more I

t o l ive a l i fe i n so ciet y nowa d ays b e cau s e gay

wou ld rebou nd , l i ke rebel l ion. But h is mot he r

people dont have some basic r ights such as mar-

th reatened him, If you do not go to the therapy

r iage, procreat ion, etc., t hat ma ny people have.

or become st raight, then dont go abroad.

So I was wonder i ng if I had really eh h h gone

aw r y o r u m m m h a d d o n e s o m e t h i n g w r o n g.

The Process of the Conversion Therapy

Then I had this inter view with a cou nselor.

I h ave b e e n ve r y u n s et t le d for a wh i le. I

D u r i ng t he f i r st i nt e r v iew t he t he r apist A

thought that if I was not gay, if I were st raight,

t r ied to f i nd t he rea sons of t he i nter v iewee As

no mat ter whether man or woman, and if I could

homosexualit y. He investigated the inter viewees

confor m to the world and go with the mainst ream

fa m i ly ba ckg rou nd a nd h is g row i ng-up ex p e r i-

of the societ y, then it would be much bet ter and

ences. As to the f i rst t al k, at the begi n n i ng he

there would not be so much t rouble for me and I

t a l ke d w i t h m y m o t h e r w h i l e m y f a t h e r a n d I

would get along pret t y well with my parents.

we r e sit t i n g o u t sid e. T h e n we t og e t h e r t a l ke d

He decided to be separated f rom his mother

with him and act ually he said that homosexualit y

for a while because his relationship with her had

was nor mal for a small g roup of people. He just

not been so well since he came out. He stayed by

said this was nor mal for a small g roup of people.

himself in one of his parents apar t ments and his

T he n he explai ned some possible rea son s si nce

father in another, while his mother went to st ay

he had k now n some sit uations of my family.

with some relative. Af ter half a month, the fam-

Af ter the f irst tal k the inter viewee A star t-

ily reu nited because his father got ill. This time

ed t o go t he re alone about once a week . We

his mother told him that she had fou nd a psychi-

d id nt t al k about my sex u al or ie nt at ion i n t he

at r ist for him. My mother feared that I would nt

s e c o n d t i m e (wh ich wa s a l s o t h e f i r s t t i m e h e

go a nd said t he psych iat r ist would mai n ly t reat

went there alone) because my mother and I just

her and my father. But I k now it was for me

had a quar rel before the therapy and I just th rew

T his therapist A was somewhat famous and

all my complai nts to the therapist . I n the fol-

cha rged 30 0 0R M B per hou r. T he i nter viewee A

lowing t wo or th ree sessions he just t r ied to help

went there once a week and af ter f ive or six vis-

solve well ou r family conf licts. But I thought

its, he decided to stop.

if he could solve t he problem of my sexu al or i-

T h i s J u n e , h i s m o t h e r w a s fo u n d t o h a ve
c a n c e r. S h e g o t e ve n m o r e t e r r i f i e d b e c a u s e

e nt at ion , lot s of my p roble m s wou ld b e solve d

automatically.

she always t houg ht she wou ld d ie soon, a nd

It s m ay b e i n t h e t h i r d o r fou r t h s e s sio n

then I can do whatever I want. Then his mother

that we began discussing my sexual or ient ation.

again contacted the same therapist. But I really

Well Because I wanted to ease my mom a lit tle

d id nt wa nt t o t a l k t o t he t he r api s t . It wa s ex-

I told her I was bisexual when I f i rst came out.

But act ually I feel that I am mainly homosexual

53

and bisexualit y is just a tiny bit for me.

vised him to t r y more, t r y seek ing the feeling

I had several boyf r iends and we had sex in

of hav i ng a g i rlf r iend. T he i nter v iewee A said

the past but we did nt last long. The therapist in-

the more he said the more I disliked it . Af ter

sisted that it is these exper iences that t u r ned me

h av i ng ex p e r ie nce d a l l of t he se I wel l , I b e -

gay. He said I never exper ienced and thus did nt

came more convinced, I mean I will be going all

k now what heterosexu alit y was li ke. So he told

the way (to be gay) to the end.

me to t r y. He said I was act ually not homosexual

I had a feeling I was gay when I was ver y

but ju st ha d homosex u al behav ior s i n t h is spe -

lit tle and I star ted having cr ushes on g uys. So I

cif ic per iod of time.

thought this k ind of thing was bor n this way. So

Ju st af t e r a few t a l k s , he b ega n t o t r y t o

I dont want to change any more.

s w i t c h o u r t o p i c t o h e t e r o s e x u a l i t y, s u c h a s

A not her reason is t hat he read repor t s t hat

youl l n e ve r k now i f you h ave nt b e e n w it h a

some laws and reg ulations suppor ti ng homo -

g i rl or itl l b e mu ch e a sie r i f you a r e w it h a

sexu alit y were promu lgated i n foreig n cou n-

girl in societ y nowadays. Maybe he thought that

t r ie s du r i ng t h is p e r io d of t i me a nd he wa nt e d

a t le a s t I w a s nt t r a n s s ex u a l a n d t h a t I h a d nt

t o i mprove h is l iv i ng cond it ion s t h roug h goi ng

i magi ned myself as a gi rl. So he thoug ht it was

abroad. Since I read so many repor ts, and there

probable for me to become heterosexual and kept

were indeed many, that recently in a lot of cou n-

tal k ing with me on this.

t r ies like the U K and the US many r ights of gay

T h e i nt e r v ie we e A m e nt io n e d t h a t h e h a d

p e o pl e g o t r e c o g n i z e d l e g a l l y, l i ke t h e s a m e -

r e c e i ve d s o m e h y p n o s i s i n t h e p r o c e s s of t h e

s e x m a r r i a ge bi l l i n Br it a i n a n d s o m e bi l l s i n

therapy but did not provide f u r ther details.

A me r ica so I t houg ht t h i s k i nd of t h i ng wa s

Af ter f ive or six t reat ments, the inter viewee

A d e c id e d t o s t o p it . He p r e t e n d e d t h a t h e a l -

being accepted worldwide. I dont thin k I need

to make changes any more.

ready accepted the possibilities of being hetero sexu al a nd told t he t herapist A oh, I t h i n k its

T he Re su lt s and I mpac t s of the Con -

p o s si ble fo r m e t o a c c e p t a wo m a n. I d id nt

version Therapy

wa nt t o f i nd t rouble for mysel f a ny mor e. T he

i nt e r v iewe e t he n cut t he t he r apy shor t be cau se

As for the conversion therapy the inter view-

he had to prepare for the exams in May and Ju ne

e e A h a d r e c eive d , he t hou g ht , I c ou ld nt ge t

for st udying abroad.

t he help I wa nt ed t h roug h t h is t her apy my pa r-

O ne of the reasons t hat i nter viewee A

e nt s t h rew on me. I n Beiji ng, e sp e cial ly whe re

stopped the therapy is that he had st rong an-

we lived , I could nt f i nd help a nd I dont k now

t ipat hy towa rd s it. Si nce t he t h i rd or fou r t h i n-

whom I could t u r n to in order to f ind answers to

t e r v iew, t he t he r apist A t r ied t o d r ag h i m ont o

my questions. Du r i ng that half year, I just went

heterosexu alit y a nd t houg ht it was probable for

to wh ichever i nst it ute my pa rents wanted me to

t he i nter v iewee A to become heterosexu al. T he

go. I k new this k i nd of therapies was a t remen-

therapist A constantly d ropped this hint and ad-

dous ha r m to my body and m i nd, but I could nt

54

f i nd ot he r aid , be cau se t he re wa s not some fa-

a child. I may like girls but I feel they wont t u r n

m o u s o r c o n c r e t e s y s t e m t o h el p t h e s e p e o ple

me on . I f I a m held i n a b oys a r m s , I w i l l b e

t o get psycholog ical s up p or t or somet h i ng l i ke

t u r ned on. He deter mined his sexual or ientation

that.

at the age of 22. If I am heterosexual, I should

A s fo r w h a t I t h i n k a b o u t t h e t h e r a p i s t ,

be involved physiologically and psychologically.

he d id nt g ive much help to my fa m ily. He ju st

But I seem to like girls just psychologically and

t h rew all t he bla me on me a nd told me to get a

I d ont h ave fe el i ng s for g i rl s phy siolog ic a l ly.

g i rlf r iend a nd li ke females a nd become hetero -

But I seem to like g uys both physiologically and

sexual, and af ter that my family problems could

psychologically. So I thin k I am gay.

be solved. He should have told my parents that to

be gay was nor mal and they should u nderst and.

Seek Conversion Therapy because of Set-

But not a si ng le word l i ke t h at I t h i n k a ct u-

back s i n Emot ional Li fe and Pressures of

ally t he mai n problem lies i n my pa rents. I had

Being Gay

thought that he would tal k a lot with my parents

b u t I d id nt e x p e c t t h a t i n s t e a d h e ju s t t a l ke d

In 2011, the inter viewee B received conver-

w it h me, o n my s ex u a l or ie nt at io n , e t c. wh ich

sion t he r apy. Be cau se t h at wa s t he e nd of my

made me really miserable. I felt that this g uy is

f i r st relat ion sh ip. I felt t h at gay p e oples l ive s

totally useless.

were ter r ible and I felt g reat pressu re. I felt like

Ever y session of t he t reat ment wa s a challenge to the self-identif ication of the inter viewee

living u nderg rou nd. A nd I was per plexed at that

time and did nt k now how to continue my life.

A, af te r wh ich he ha d to st r uggle to regai n h is

I su f fe re d a lot af t e r t he bre a k i ng up be -

self-recog nition and self-esteem. From my com-

cause it was my f irst love any way. But af ter that

i n g o u t t o o u r s e p a r a t io n ( b e t we e n A a n d h i s

I thought about this caref ully. I might have had

mot her), t hen to t he cou n seli ngI always went

some feeli ngs for gi rls i n t he past I n my col-

t o se e t h is t he r apist af t e r scho ol. Eve r y t i me I

lege years I loved a girl secretly, who was cute in

went to see h i m, I would feel m iserable for t he

my eyes. I might have a cr ush on her, but I did nt

whole day. I became u ncer tain about the things I

k now if it was love der ived f rom the cr ush. I was

had believed in, such as is it r ight to be a gay?

con f u se d. I wa s wonde r i ng if I wa s a pu re gay

But any way I thought I was r ight and I had to be

man or if I had a chance to change. Because liv-

t r ue to myself. A nother week passed and another

ing as a gay man is painf ul. I was conf used.

session came and the same feeli ngs arose li ke a

cycle du r ing that per iod of time.

T h e i n t e r v ie we e B s a i d , W hy d i d I t a ke
the therapy? One of the reasons is that I wanted
t o h ave a b e t t e r l i fe. B u t m o r e i m p o r t a n t l y it

II: Inter v iewee B

wa s for my pa rent s a nd my fa m ily so t hat t hey

male, bor n in 1984, u nderg raduate, work ing

wo u l d nt s u f f e r b e c a u s e of m e . T h a t w a s t h e

and living in Shen zhen

I seem to care more about boys since I was

main pu r pose.
I just su rfed and searched online and fou nd

55

a cheap one to go for f u r ther infor mation.

T h e ele c t r ic s h o ck t h e r a py t h a t t h e i nt e rv i e we e B h a d r e c e i ve d w a s l i k e t h i s . I n t h e

The Process of the Conversion Therapy

ro om t he re wa s a T V set a nd he wou ld let you

sit on a ch a i r on wh ich t he r e we r e some w i r e s

The inter viewee B received conversion ther-

a n d n e e d l e s . T h e n h e wo u l d pl ay p o r n v i d e o s

a pie s onc e a we ek for a t ot a l of t h r e e mont h s.

for you a nd it wa s gay sex. A f t e r you wat che d

The therapist used th ree methods including elec-

i t , h e wo u l d g i ve yo u a m i l d s h o c k w h e n yo u

t r ic shock, medication and psychotherapy. Ever y

felt t u r ned on. T hen when you were excited , he

we e k I h a d a n ele c t r ic s h o c k a n d t o o k e m e t ic

wou ld g ive you st ronge r shock s a nd you wou ld

d r u g s . H e a l s o g a ve s o m e m e d i c i n e fo r d a i l y

feel a lit tle dizz y then. At f irst I ju mped up im-

uses and he said these pills would help me sleep

mediately once I got shocked and ref used it and

well.

be ca me real ly rebel l iou s. T he n he t r ied t o pe r-

Before t he t her apy, t he i nter v iewee B took

suade you that this was the process of the thera-

a psychological test to deter mine his sexual or i-

py and you had to accept it or it fails. Just thin k

e nt a t io n . He g ive s yo u s o m e fo r m s t h a t lo o k

that you r life will be a lot easier if you get back

like psychological tests to judge whether you are

t o be het e rosex u al succe ssf u l ly. He wou ld say

absolut ely homosex u al or bisex u al or wh at eve r

t h i ng s l i ke t h i s a nd got you ba ck i n t he ch a i r.

it is. It seemed that the test showed that I was

A f t e r wa rd s he said t hat if you real ly cou ld not

bisexu al a nd he said t here was a cha nce for me

bear it he could use a belt to tie you up. He said

to t u r n back to be heterosexu al. T hen he i nt ro -

t he shock wou ld la st for a few second s but you

duced to me the similar cases he handled before,

need not wor r y. T here wou ld be no real d a nger

i nclud i ng t he t reat me nt proce du re a nd t he cu r-

for you r life.

re nt st at u s of t he few gay me n he h a d cu re d . I
believed him at that time.

About a month later, the inter viewee B already had no react ions when he saw gay por n.

Du r ing the therapy, elect r ical shock and in-

T hen the therapist B told hi m, now you are at

duction were car ried out simultaneously. He (the

a st at e of re cove r y. You a re st a r t i ng t o t u r n t o

therapist B) would give you some inst r uctions on

b e h e t e r o s e x u a l . T h a t w a s r o u g h ly wh a t h e

thin k ing. Then he just asked you to relax and af-

said, ou r inter viewee recalls. He (the therapist

ter you fell into cer tain state of mind, he would

B) s a id it wa s a go o d sig n , g r a du a l ly you ca n

st ar t showing some por n videos. He would keep

star t to appreciate the organs of females and the

play i ng bot h male -female por n a nd gay por n i n

beaut y of women and imagi ne that you are with

t u r n. If you responded to the gay por n, he would

them and you would have that feeling. Act ually

shock you u si ng ele ct r icit y a nd said somet h i ng

b e c a u s e I felt t h a t I c o u ld h ave s e x w it h b ot h

to you , but if you had a n erect ion du r i ng male -

male and female I mean I could do it with girls.

female por n, he also spoke but did nt give elec-

So when I imagi ned as he const r ucted, I i ndeed

t r ic shock.

h a d e re ct ion s. So a s he sa id t h is wa s a ch a nge

56

that testif ied that I was being cu red. That meant

t he de si re for l i fe a nd t he re sp on sibi l it ie s for

that the process of conver ting to be heterosexual

the family made him abandon this idea. Com-

had g radually beg u n. But I thought this was k ind

m it t i ng su icide is sel f ish. I cou ld nt do t hat t o

of st upid when he gave you thin k ing inst r uctions

my family, so I stopped thin k ing about it.

by you r side and inducted you to see those par ts

Though having u ndergone such painf ul ther-

of women bodies and got an erection. But if you

apy a nd havi ng lost i nterest i n gay por n du r i ng

saw males and had similar responses you would

the process, he thought the so-called conversion

get shocked or emetic d r ugs. In fact for a cer tain

t h e r a py d id nt h ave a ny ef fe c t b u t m a k i n g m e

per iod af ter that, I may feel u ncomfor table when

suffer. I n addition, One of the keen feelings I

I saw male nudit y.

had about it was that I had lost i nterest i n both

boys a nd g i rls. Eve r y d ay I wa s abse nt-m i nded

The Impacts of the Conversion Therapy

and in low spir it and I felt ext remely u ncomfor table and I ref used to go to the therapy.

Accord i ng to t he i nter v iewee B, t he whole

Ab ou t t wo o r t h r e e m o nt h s a f t e r t h e e n d

process was a tor ment to him. W hen there was

of t h e t h e r a p y, I fel t t h a t m y i n t e r e s t i n b oy s

still one week to go, I felt I could hardly hold on

g radu ally came back. T hen I thoug ht it was not

any more. I felt ver y pessimistic about my life. I

possible to be changed. I felt the therapy had nt

wanted to f ind someone I could conf ide in but I

wo r ke d a n d I w a s d e t e r m i n e d t h a t I a m a g ay

could f ind none. At that time I liked to wal k on

man. I should do just what gay people should do,

some d a rk roa d s, a nd i n t he d a rk I cr ied , a nd I

honestly and f ir mly. Then I came out to my par-

cr ied without k nowing whom I could t u r n to for

ents, then my u ncles and my you nger cousin.

help. I dare not make a phone call and I just felt

desperate.
The reason of my being pessimistic is that
I did nt get the good results that I had expected
despite the fact that I have spent so much money
and suf fered so much. I quit my job to t a ke the
therapy as I just could nt work nor mally at that
time. I just felt that I was useless for societ y and
it wa s me a n i ng le s s for me t o l ive. Pe o ple l i ke
me would br ing lots of diff iculties to the family
a nd wou ld nt b e s uc c e s sf u l i n ca r e e r a s ot he r s
because people like me are f row ned upon in so ciet y. I got ver y desperate, really desperate since
I could change nothing.
T h e i nt e r v ie we e B t h o u g ht of s u ic id e b u t

57


BEIJING LGBT CENTER

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Desig n: Su Wen Shao