Germany bans 'gay conversion therapy' for under-18s

Germany bans 'gay conversion therapy' for under-18s


Germany has passed a new law banning 'gay conversion therapy' for those under 18.


The new law means that anyone caught promoting services to 'cure' homosexuality to young people will face a fine of up to £30,000 or a year in jail.


Parents and guardians who force youngsters to undergo such treatment will also face punishment for failing in their duty of care.


The law also outlines punishments for those who 'deceive, coerce or threaten' an adult into 'treatment', though stops short of an outright ban. 


'Homosexuality is not an illness,' openly-gay Health Minister Jens Spahn said as he announced the policy, 'therefore the term therapy is already misleading.


'[Young people] should feel strengthened when the state, when society, when Parliament makes it clear: we do not want that in this country.'


The move won the backing of most centre-ground parties in Germany, though the far-right AfD party largely abstained except for one vote against.




More liberal parties also abstained from the vote, arguing that it does not go far enough and that the age limit should be raised to 27.


Spahn said it should be clear that Germany is trying to discourage the practice wholesale, but he wanted the law to hold up under legal challenge.


Under German law it is much easier to protect children than it is adults, when things such as freedom of choice and expression must be taken into account.


Gay conversion therapy is most associated with parts of the US with 'treatments potentially involving hypnosis, psychotherapy and even electric shocks.


But it has also gained a foothold in European countries including Germany, with the country's the Union of Catholic Physicians announcing in 2011 that they have developed a 'cure' for homosexuality.


Gero Winkelmann, a practicing GP at the time, said at the time that 'these people have a sick tendency' that needs treatment.


His remarks proved hugely controversial, and were slapped down by the German Association for Behavioral Therapy.


Around 1,000 people are currently subjected to conversion therapy in Germany every year, according to the Magnus Hirschfeld Foundation, a Berlin-based human rights organisation.