Scared straight?--Conversion therapists prey on fears, misconceptions about homosexuality (4)

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Getting educated

Teaching people to accept who they are can start with education, Lu believes.

"In countries such as the US or UK, a mental health professional cannot tell a person 'Yes, you can change [your sexuality],' because that is not possible. A person may want to, but it's not practical, you cannot tell the person you can do it," he said. "You need to tell them the scientific facts."

"There are two forms of damage such treatment can bring," Xin said. "Besides physical harm, practitioners who claim they can successfully turn people around can mislead the patient's family and the public."

Lu recalls a lesbian he met in 2005, who wanted to convince her mother there was nothing wrong with being homosexual. She made an appointment with a clinic that seemed proper and asked her mother to go with her, expecting the doctor to say there's nothing wrong with being homosexual.

However, she was shocked after the doctor suggested she take a test to see if she was truly a lesbian, and promised that anyone can be changed "back to normal."

Ever since, her mother has been bugging her to "stop acting this way," Lu said. The doctor confirmed the mother's belief that being a homosexual is a choice and she was just not trying hard enough to stop.

Educating parents is another field that needs to be worked on, Jiang said.

Since getting a confirmation from the doctor that his son was fine, Yang worked hard on communicating with and trying to understand him.

His son has tried to like girls when he was in high school, Yang said, but it never worked. He even started going out with one, and they spent time watching movies, dancing and dining together. But while holding her hand, he didn't feel anything, "it was like his left hand was holding his right hand," Yang said.

After hearing everything his son had gone through, Yang felt he needed to support his son.

"In this society, if the parents don't accept their children as who they are, how can others accept them?" he asked.

Ah Yan still has some work to do in convincing his mother, but he remains hopeful.

"This is just who I am. I can't change it, so there's only one path to take," he said.

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