A Chinese "ex-gay" conversation clinic has been ordered to pay compensation to a gay man for administering electroshock therapy as a way to convert the man from homosexual to heterosexual. It is believed this is the first ex-gay conversion court case.

Lawyer Li Duilong said the Haidian District People's Court in Beijing ordered the clinic to pay 3,500 yuan ($560) to compensate Yang Teng for costs incurred in the therapy.

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While firming established in the modern mindset as a barbaric pseudo-scientific medical practice, electroshock therapy, also called electroconvulsive therapy (ECT), is still used by doctors around the world. Electric currents are passed through the brain, intentionally triggering a brief seizure. ECT seems to cause changes in brain chemistry that can quickly reverse symptoms of certain mental illnesses. It often works when other treatments are unsuccessful. 

However, its permanent transformative ability has largely been discredited by the medical establishment. No accredited medical body advocates ECT as a method of switching sexual orientation.

Li said the court ruled there was no need to administer shocks because homosexuality did not require treatment; China declassified homosexuality as a mental disorder in 2001. LGBT advocated unanimously condemn the idea of so-called conversion therapy, and several groups in the United States promoting conversion therapy, including the infamous Exodus International, have either shuttered their doors or admitted that the practice does not work. 

A suit against search engine giant Baidu for advertising the Xinyu Piaoxiang clinic in the western city of Chongqing was dismissed.

When contacted by phone, Yang said he was "very satisfied with the results, which I didn't expect. The court sided with me, and it has supported that homosexuality is not a mental disease that requires treatment."

Yang, who began his therapy voluntarily after his parents pressured him to marry and father children, said the clinic staff used hypnosis and electric shocks that harmed him both physically and emotionally. The suit claims the clinic staff said ECT was not dangerous.

Yang said the verdict will help gay rights advocates to urge clinics to stop offering such treatments and persuade parents not to pressure their gay children to undergo therapy.

"Someone needs to step up because we must stop such severe transgressions," he said, adding he hopes the verdict, which is getting heavy coverage in China, will give legal gravitas to Chinese LGBT advocates working to ban conversation therapy as well as turn China's public opinion against it.

Unlike those of the West, China's native historic religions, Taoism and Buddhism, have no condemnation of homosexuality specifically. However, many gay men still face strong family pressure to wed and carry on the family line.

Tagsex-gay, shock therapy, ECT, conversion therapy