September 12th, 2011
Ecuadorean authorities have so far this year closed at least thirty ex-gay clinics which claimed to “cure” homosexuality following allegations of torture and abuse by former patients. One of those former clients, 28-year-old Paula Ziritt, said she was held for two years at one such facility in Guayaqui, which included three months in handcuffs while guards threw urine and ice water on her. “It was degrading, humiliating and horrible,” she said. Another former client was nineteen years old when he was forcibly taken by his father to a different clinic, where he was beaten, deprived of food, and also had buckets of cold water thrown on him. Authorities say that six clinics which were closed in Guayaquil were linked to evangelical movements.
Ecuador’s Health Ministry said they are working with the Interior Ministry to weed out the unlicensed clinics which are operating outside of Ecuadorean law. Some of these clinics are suspected as posing as alcohol and drug rehabilitation centers. Authorities estimate that as many as 200 such clinics may be operating in the country, and are asking members of the gay community to come forward with any information they may have. One provincial health director, Eva Cevallos, warns, “Obviously you can not cure homosexuality. These therapies involve malpractice and are unauthorized. They cause depressive disorders, self-destructive behavior, anxiety and may lead to committing suicide.”
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andrew
September 12th, 2011
Hot damn. Nice to see some parts of the world following a more progressive track.
Tony
September 12th, 2011
So now it’s “beat the gay away”.
Aaron
September 12th, 2011
Wow, our country seems so much more backwards all of a sudden.
paul canning
September 12th, 2011
There is a major effort across Latin America and the Caribbean fighting reparatative therapy http://ilga.org/ilga/en/article/mYwsAsz1sG which this move in Ecuador sits within.
Regan DuCasse
September 12th, 2011
These poor people were CRIMINALLY abused!
Even if there was some clinical based mental illness going on, this would STILL be wrong to treat ANYONE in this manner!
WTF?!
When gay people are forced to submit to worse than prison like conditions, disguised as ‘clinics’, then a reckoning is deserved.
Jean-Paul
September 13th, 2011
@Paul Canning —
Again, thanks for the link, Paul.
Hopefully Kaleidoscope will support these efforts and reach places like Jamaica as well.
Pete
September 13th, 2011
I don’t even want to *think* about how many Bachmannesque ex-gay clinics are operating in the United States, inside or outside the law. Woof.
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