Several States want, that the alleged treatments for homosexuality to be banned. Many Sufferers of these “therapies” are suffering from immense psychological consequences.
Today, Mike runs with his Partner Henning Hand-in-Hand through the city Park in Bad Homburg. A few years ago this would have been unthinkable. Behind the 40-Year-old a long ordeal.
As a teenager, Mike realizes that he is gay. The years after that plunge him into a deep crisis. “I have asked God to forgive me, I’m gay. I’m sorry that I have such feelings, and so live,” describes his thoughts of that time.
Mike in an Evangelical community, where homosexuality is considered a sin. He is convinced that he needs to “heal”, because he has learned over the years, the Christian Faith require of him obedience.
In his Evangelical community, Mike’s help was looking for in a therapist.
“If you like your life to change, you’re dead”
his homosexuality, he is looking for within the municipality’s help, and finds you in a fundamental Christian therapists. This advises to a so-called conversion therapy to be gay to be “wegtherapieren”. Mike, a volunteer on the secret conversation treatment. “You have asked me, whether I am ready to put old homosexual friendships on the ice, to make this work.” Full of Motivation he had back then, almost 20 years ago, said Yes.
He puts all of his hope in the questionable treatment. In group discussions, the relationships be verified to his parents. The theory behind this is that homosexuality is a disease or a mental disorder that is treatable.
at the Beginning, Mike feels in good hands, but then he feels an ever-stronger internal pressure. His homosexuality curb, he lives alone and feels increasingly lonely. The “therapy” brings him to the brink of suicide. His thoughts are always more to a sentence: “If your life don’t change, you’re dead, forever dead.”
therapy led Mike to the brink of suicide.
countries initiative for a ban on conversion therapies
experience as Mike make a lot of Gays and lesbians, because even today there are still so-called conversion therapies. When it comes to the state of Hesse, should be banned these treatments in the future. Together with the Federal States of Berlin, Bremen, Saarland and Schleswig-Holstein, Hesse brings to the today of a resolution in the Bundesrat.
homosexuality is not an illness and therefore not in need of treatment, the justification of the countries. In order to follow the estimates of the world health organization (WHO), the world medical Association and of the German doctors day.
number of people Affected unknown
conversion therapies are rarely advertised to the public. Also, there are no studies. Therefore, it is unclear how many providers there are in Germany and how many people will be treated with conversion therapy.
Such questions are to be answered according to the plans of the Minister of health, Jens Spahn is now in a Commission. At the Federal level, Spahn had announced in mid-February, a legislative ban on conversion therapies to enforce. The future Commission with representatives from politics and science, but also with the victims of Conversion therapy, is to develop until the fall of common solution proposals.
The parliamentary group of the Greens has already introduced in February a bill with a catalogue of measures, in which it calls for, among other things, awareness-raising campaigns and to ensure that these dubious treatments can not be on the insurance company settled.
In the summer, want to Mike and his friend Henning married.
“, I still believe in God”
An educational campaign would have reached Mike at the time, never too deep, he used to put in the fundamental Christian structures. For ten years he tried, unsuccessfully, to reverse the polarity. The psychological consequences and the suffering is immense.
Today, Mike has left the reversal attempt from almost all the friends from his former parish separately. He says, evil, he could not be in his Church, but he could blame her, that “you don’t think about trying it, that there are other ways”.
Mike’s long ordeal has come to an end. In the summer, the wedding is coming up with Henning. “To me nothing could happen Better,” he says. “And I still believe in God.”
Spahn wants to therapies against homosexuality ban, 15.02.2019 Atlas |Germany |Bad Homburg
