'I needed years of therapy over the battle to change my sexuality'

Practices of so-called conversion therapy - attempts to change a person's sexual orientation or gender identity - are much more common than first thought, new research suggests.

Ben Gibbons, now 38, says he needed years of therapy after an elder at his church forced him to make himself sick every time he had "impure thoughts", in an attempt to change his sexuality.

He is one of many people in the LGBT community to have been exposed to so-called conversion therapy, with 31% of people responding to a recent survey from the charity Stonewall saying they have experienced it.

Draft legislation to outlaw conversion practices is due to be published within the next month, the BBC understands.

Ben says his ordeal started in his early 20s, after he was invited to attend Bible studies with an elder from his church.

These started off as innocuous religious seminars, but Ben says things quickly changed and the elder started exerting control over what clothes he wore and how he styled his hair - encouraging him to wear what was seen as traditional masculine styles.

He says he stopped the sessions after the elder started forcing him to make himself sick by tasting a bitter liquid whenever he had sexual thoughts or urges about other men.

Ben told BBC News it took more than a decade to realise he'd been subjected to conversion practices, despite living with depression and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), as he struggled to confront what had happened to him.

"I knew what was happening was bad, I knew it was an attempt to suppress my feelings but I didn't know a way out, so I just sort of dealt with it," he said.

"But it's had huge repercussions.

"I think [the church] thought it was working because they saw my shine vanish, they saw my happiness vanish."

His experience puts him among the 17% of respondents to Stonewall's survey who said they'd experienced prayer from others in an attempt to change their sexual orientation or gender identity.

The research, carried out by Opinium, asked 2,000 people who identified as part of the LGTBQ+ community whether they had been exposed to various practices aimed at changing or altering their sexual orientation or gender identity.

The results were weighted to try to represent the views of the wider LGBTQ+ population - including those of different sexualities, gender identities, races and abilities.

It also broke down the different ways they had experienced these practices, with some experiencing more than one type.

• 17% said they'd experienced physical assault
• 12% said they'd experienced pseudo-scientific counselling sessions
• 15% said they'd been threatened with homelessness
• 10% said they'd experienced exorcisms

A previous government survey in 2017 found around 2% of LGBT people had undergone conversion practices, while 5% had been offered them.

The National LGBT Survey had more than 108,000 respondents, but did not ask specifically about the different types of conversion therapy they had experienced.

Its results led the government to promise a ban on conversion practices in 2018, but the legislation has been delayed a number of times.

Both surveys suggested that trans and non-binary respondents were more likely to say they had experienced some form of conversion therapy.

Results from Stonewall's research suggest that 38% of trans and non-binary respondents had experienced physical assault in an attempt to alter their gender identity.

Demitri Rodriguez, a social media influencer and campaigner, says he was sent to a residential church camp aged 15, which he and his family believed was aimed at improving his behaviour.

He had recently revealed he was questioning his gender, and says the leaders of the camp told him this was "satanic" and that he was a "reincarnation of the devil." He says he also witnessed exorcisms.

"I still wake up crying and screaming now, I am still having dreams it's happening to me now," he says.

Demitri says he went back to using his birth name and gender until he turned 18 and "knew he couldn't be sent back" to the camp.

Now aged 25, he says he was only recently able to tell his parents about his experiences at the camp, which left them "heartbroken."

In February, the then-women and equalities minister, Anneliese Dodds, told the Women and Equalities Committee that draft legislation outlawing conversion practices would be brought forward before the end of the parliamentary session this summer.

Some campaigners and politicians have shared concerns that a ban could criminalise parents, therapists or teachers for questioning a young person's gender identity.

Baroness Kishwer Falkner, chairwoman of the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) told BBC News she supported a ban but that the law must be "carefully considered."

She said: "Any legislation must include clear definitions to both capture the harms it seeks to prevent and ensure that it does not risk criminalising those providing appropriate support and care, including legitimate medical support.

"The proposed ban will need to balance the rights of the individuals subject to conversion practices with other human rights protections, such as religious freedom and freedom of expression."

Simon Blake, chief executive at Stonewall, said their research showed a ban needed to be brought in "as quickly as possible."

He said: "This bill is about banning conversion practices and making sure that unacceptable practices, which tell people who they are is not OK, have no place in this country.

"It's about telling people this is not acceptable."

A government spokesperson said: "Conversion practices are abuse - such acts have no place in society and must be stopped.

"We remain committed to bringing forward legislation to finally ban these abusive practices, starting with publishing the draft Bill later this session."