One fifth of gay cure therapy survivors have attempted suicide, survey finds

One fifth of gay cure therapy survivors say they have attempted suicide, according to a shocking new survey.

The findings come in a report from the Ozanne Foundation, a UK-based charity promoting equality and religious diversity that is backed by two Church of England Bishops.

A survey of LGBT+ people of faith attracted 4600 responses, with one in ten participants saying they had personal experience of attempts to change their sexual orientation.

Gay cure therapy linked to suicide, mental health problems

Of the 458 participants who had experienced conversion therapy, 91 people people said they had attempted suicide.

Two in five of those who had experience with conversion therapy had had suicidal thoughts, while less than a third said they had gone on to “have gone on to lead a happy and fulfilled life.”

Just 13 survivors said that conversion therapy worked, while three-quarters said “it did not work for me and I do not believe it works for others.”

43 respondents said they were subjected to conversion therapy against their will, with religious leaders more likely than parents to have “advised or forced attempts at sexual orientation change.”

According to the foundation, 22 people said they had undergone “forced sexual activity with someone of the opposite gender” as part of conversion therapy efforts.

Bishop of Liverpool: Gay cure therapy leaves people ‘scarred for life’

Church leaders have been taken aback by the findings, which come one week after a major London evangelical church hosted a gay cure event.

The Bishop of Liverpool Paul Bayes, Chair of the Ozanne Foundation, said: “The level of considered and attempted suicide reported here is shocking and sobering.

“The statistics reflect lives which have been scarred and strained by mixed messaging of love, acceptance, condemnation and fear.