An experience of ‘conversion therapy’

‘Conversion’ is a word known in the sphere of religion for many centuries. Christianity is an evangelical religion, and converts are welcome – even sought.

But in recent years ‘conversion’ has taken on a new meaning. Framed within the concept of ‘conversion therapy’ it has come to signify trying to change a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity. This is considered cruel and repressive; and admittedly, some of these therapies, especially as practiced in the United States, have probably been harmful. Ultra-evangelical American Christians have especially sought to ‘convert’ homosexuals to heterosexuality, urging them to “pray away the gay”.

In Ireland, Minister Roderick O’Gorman has been minded to ban this ‘conversion therapy’, and in Britain, the new Labour administration will take steps to prohibit it.

Controversial

It has become especially controversial, too, in the realm of ‘gender identity’.

I had an interesting experience, however, of encountering a form of ‘conversion therapy’. This involved a young man in his twenties with paedophile tendencies: he felt attracted to young girls under the age of consent and before puberty.

It is rightly seen as a perversion, but it is also an orientation in that it’s about what the person finds attractive”

Charged with molestation, and troubled by his tormenting urges, he was referred to a therapist, who agreed to try to help change this ‘orientation’: it is rightly seen as a perversion, but it is also an orientation in that it’s about what the person finds attractive.

So, the therapist embarked on a course of treatment which involved trying to bring this man’s responses up the age scale, so to speak. He was exposed to treatment which included stimulating attraction to females who were over the age of consent, moving away from young girls. The whole process was undertaken to ‘convert’ him towards a spectrum of normality.

At the time I interviewed him, he said it was helping him to change. He was also lodging with the family of a Christian (Protestant) minister who was aware of his problems and was seeking to give him support and a home, since he had been living alone in a series of bedsits.

Pathway

Is this pathway of ‘conversion therapy’ wrong? Or can it be a helpful approach to try and cure someone of their tendencies (‘natural’ in that it felt inborn and spontaneous).

I think the answer may be found in some of the reflections uttered by Minister O’Gorman himself: that the whole question was “complicated” and there would have to be some more investigation of the subject before slapping an outright ban on the process.

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Emphasising creativity

Frank Cottrell-Boyce is the newly appointed ‘Children’s Laureate’ in Britain, a role which exists to encourage creativity and reading amongst children. He’s an experienced, award-winning Liverpool-born author, who orchestrated the theme for the 2012 Summer Olympics in London.

He and his wife Denise have seven children, and both are Catholics, although Frank doesn’t like to make a sectarian issue of this point. Denise is a screenwriter, author and a catechist. Her book Welcoming the Stranger explores the multi-cultural elements of our world, in the light of Christian scripture.

Children’s books have been increasingly left-wing in recent times, emphasising climate change and gender ideology.  It will be interesting to see if Frank Cottrell-Boyce will encourage a broader approach, to include more Christian values. Maybe he will want to remain neutral, just emphasising creativity in children, which is, in any case, a good thing to stress.

One of their sons, Aidan Cottrell-Boyce, is also a writer, and a thoughtful young man of faith, who chaired a meeting I was involved with last year at the Jesuit centre at London’s Farm Street.

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All cities are increasingly similar – the globalisation effect, perhaps. Yet there remains one stark difference between London and Dublin: public transport. This is distinctly meaningful to those of us who move around mostly by bus, train (or tram) and taxi.

In London, you seldom wait more than about 8 minutes for a bus; there is always a bus shelter, and somewhere to rest your derrière while you wait. In Dublin, a bus may come within ten minutes; but it might be rather longer, and there isn’t always a shelter or somewhere to sit. Nassau Street, where many south-bound buses halt, is devoid of any resting conditions for the weary.

Another point: in London, you can still hail a taxi. It’s frustrating, now, in Dublin, that the only way to get a taxi is through an app. And that means, for some mobile phones, that you have to be connected to wi-fi, which you may not be in the middle of a random street. The taxi-rank seems to be a thing of the past, too.

I have no idea whether the car-reduced traffic-plans for Dublin will be an improvement. But I do suggest that a lot more needs to be done to improve public transport first. And that includes making it easier to summon a taxi.