Sexual orientation change effort is a practice globally condemned as discriminatory, dangerous and traumatic
Participants hold a large rainbow flag as they take part in the annual pride parade at Victoria Park in Hong Kong on Nov 17, 2018. Some fear Beijing's crackdown on opposition endangers progress towards LGBTQ equality in Hong Kong (Photo: AFP)
A Christian group in Hong Kong that receives state funding for the welfare of sexual minorities is among several organizations accused of engaging in “brainwashing” LGBTQ individuals to “straighten” them under the guise of one-on-one counseling.
The New Creation Association is one of the groups that have allegedly engaged in the sexual orientation change effort, a practice globally condemned as discriminatory, dangerous and traumatic, the Hong Kong Free Press (HKFP) reported on May 7.
Alvin Cheung, 38, a social worker in Hong Kong alleged that he had contacted the group in 2005 as a college student and it was involved in “brainwashing” him by saying that his same-sex orientation was unnatural.
“They amplified the message that I had internalized growing up: that same-sex attraction was not normal, that it was unnatural, that it was not right,” HKFP quoted Cheung as saying.
Cheung contacted the Christian group after he saw an organization pamphlet that claimed a 70 percent “success rate” among people leaving the same-sex lifestyle.
“When I called their hotline, the woman who answered told me that her husband was a ‘success case,’” Cheung said, “they said they could help me become straight.”
"It is not easy to leave when these [anti-gay] messages become so ingrained"
He added that the organization didn't force him to finish their counseling.
“But it is not easy to leave when these [anti-gay] messages become so ingrained, and when you are so determined to change," Cheung said.
He said he had spent around a year undergoing therapy sessions with the group.
New Creation Association and other groups are funded by the government to promote the rights of sexual minorities as per the 2003 annual Equal Opportunities (Sexual Orientation) Funding Scheme by the Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Bureau (CMAB).
The scheme supports projects such as workshops, counseling programs, and drama performances run by community organizations.
According to the CMAB website, around HK$694,000 (about US$88,431) has been distributed to such groups since 2017 — about 10 percent of total funds.
The figures for years prior to 2017 were unavailable on the website, and the bureau said it had no further information.
However, the ground reality is different.
Since the launch of the fund in 2003, most of the organizations that received funding were said to have advocated sexual orientation change efforts, HKFP reported.
The beneficiaries of the fund include the Post Gay Alliance and the Hong Kong Psychosexual Education Association, among others.
"The group has engaged in conversion therapy to change sexual orientation"
Surprisingly, all three groups were founded by Hong Kwai-wah, who had previously told Christian media outlets that people have the right to pursue change if they are unhappy with their same-sex attraction.
The groups avoid language that explicitly suggests sexual orientation change efforts on their websites.
However, the groups say that they support those perceiving their homosexuality to be against their Christian beliefs.
According to Cheung, the group has engaged in conversion therapy to change sexual orientation which has been accepted to cause long-lasting psychological damage and is viewed as inherently discriminatory.
In 2020, the United Nations called for an international ban on the practice.
According to Cheung, the group had advised him to read stuff advocating conversion therapy. He further added that one of the books that he had read caused him to have feelings of self-hate and disparaging thoughts.
A spokesperson told HKFP that the group “did not know what conversion therapy was,” and that it offered counseling for "holistic development."
Fung Chow, 31, who attended counseling sessions with the group in 2017 said that while he accepted the decision to go for counseling was good, the false hope given to him by the group was unfair.
“But still, they gave me false hope,” Chow said.
"I am angry at them but also at my own ignorance, which was a product of the Church and society's teachings," he added.
"They think homosexuality is not the solution for them"
Chow now attends the LGBTQ-friendly Blessed Ministry Community Church in Hong Kong.
Chow said that he no longer believed that Christianity defined same-sex attraction as a sin.
"It's people's ideology. It's unrelated to religion," Chow said.
In the face of ongoing criticism, the pro-conversion therapy groups and their supporters have maintained their stand that they do not discriminate against LGBT individuals or force them to change their sexual orientation.
Kwan Kai-man, a religion professor at the Baptist University of Hong Kong and a former consultant for the New Creation Association, said that he did not feel that conversion therapy was harmful.
“Some people feel unsatisfied [experiencing same-sex attraction] and they think homosexuality is not the solution for them, so they seek help,” Kwan said.
Kwan added that there was “no demonstrated case” in Hong Kong of people developing trauma as a result.
He also questioned the credibility of numerous studies and media reports suggesting otherwise, and alleged that the topic was a “very political issue.”
Diana Kwok, an associate professor at the University of Hong Kong’s Department of Special Education and Counselling, said that it was concerning that the government would fund efforts that research had shown causes guilt, self-stigma, and internalized homophobia.
“The assumption of sexual orientation change efforts is wrong. The assumption is that homosexuality needs to be cured. It does not need to be cured,” Kwok said.
Following the anti-government protests of 2019 and the imposition of the National Security Law in 2020, Hong Kong which boasted a diverse and inclusive society in Asia has lost its charm.
A crackdown on independent pro-democracy media outlets and civil society groups coincided with the scaling back of major LGBTQ events.
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