Belgian lawmakers vote to ban conversion therapy to 'cure' LGBTQI+ people

A judge can also impose a professional ban of up to five years if the offence takes place in a professional context. Suggesting or encouraging conversion therapy can also be punished, as can advertising it.

"Conversion practices" is a broad term for therapies aimed at turning someone away from their natural sexual orientation. On VRT TV two victims testified about the conversion therapy they underwent.

“I was brainwashed by manipulation, as if it was better not to be gay" says Dan (pictured). He was 21 years old when he was counselled by a pastor of an evangelical Pentecostal church. "Sometimes the priest would say the evil spirit was gone. It would come back when I had sexual thoughts or longed to meet a man. He said I would become a murderer or prostitute, but It had nothing to do with homosexuality."

The counsellor said Dan could be "cured" of his homosexuality through therapy. "I didn't realise what was happening at first. I had suppressed my homosexuality since childhood. So that Christian environment and the priest doing the conversion therapy felt like a safe, comforting haven. I didn't want to accept myself."

Brutal practices

Conversion therapies are ineffective and sometimes even consist of downright dangerous treatments involving electroshocks, beatings or "corrective rape". These brutal practices mainly occur in religious or sectarian environments, where people follow faiths and ideologies outside the mainstream.   The “therapy” is mostly carried out by family members or pseudo-professionals. Besides being harmful to the physical and mental health of victims, these therapies stigmatise people and are discriminatory.

Fabienne also underwent a conversion therapy. She testified under a pseudonym. She went to a psychiatrist because the relationship with her girlfriend was in trouble, but he looked at the problem in a completely different way. "He presented things in such a way that it seemed like a good thing to stop being gay or lesbian. Life would be much easier. I was brainwashed through manipulation. I felt like I was under a spell."

A framework of recognition

Conversion therapy is already banned in several European countries including France, Germany, Malta and some Spanish regions. In Belgium, no such explicit ban yet existed.

In certain situations, the practice can be punished using other, existing penal provisions, such as legislation against beatings, inflicting injury or rape, but that couldn’t be said for all forms of conversion therapy. It is precisely these less extreme forms that are most common in Belgium.

For Fabienne, the new law provides an important framework. "I am going to be able to use the word illegal. 'What you are doing, Sir, is illegal.' It's easier when the law is on your side," she concludes with relief.